One Big Happy (Dead) Family
by JuHuaTai
Summary: From a very young age, Ace could see ghost, and that's how he knew they are real. This is also how he met a tired, overworked doctor haunted by 15 different ghost, all who won't stop pestering him with one request: To make their only living family member happy again.
1. Chapter 1

The little girl has a plump, rosy cheeks and tiny mouth, curled into a sad little pout. In her hand, she's fidgeting with what looks like a tattered piece of ribbon, one of the corners attached to her long and curled brunette locks. It must've been used to tie up her hair, and her action must've loosened it up.

"Sorry for making you wait, Ace!"

A couple of people walked past, both dressed in school uniforms from the nearby high school, talking animatedly between themselves, one of them carrying a thick bouquet of flower, probably for whoever it is that they're visiting together. The little girl lifted her head to follow the colourful sight, a little, happy smile appearing on her face. It slowly faded away once the two people turned into a corner and disappeared from sight. Her little lips parted in a silent sigh.

"Hmm? Oh, no problem, i just got here,"

"Okay then, glad to hear that. I got held up in the florist a little bit. Think Sabo will like these carnations? They shouldn't make as much mess like the roses from last time,"

"Koala, i think he cared more about you visiting than what you'll bring for him,"

"Oh!"

Maybe he had been watching a little too long, but the little girl snapped out of her gloominess and looked up, her eyes meeting his. She looked uncertain, as if unsure if Ace was looking at her.

He threw her a smile. With that confirmation that he's indeed watching her, the little girl gave a giggle, waving cheerily at him.

On the floor underneath her, blood continues to drip from her spilled out innards, staining her tattered, stained sundress even more. Vehicular manslaughter, if he had to guess, judging from the track marks in front of her tiny, crushed waist, almost separating her top and lower half. Not the nicest way to go, and certainly not the kind of death deserving to a child this young. It's probably a slow death too, if her soul stayed in this hospital instead of haunting the place where the accident happen.

Poor thing. She looked no older than 7.

"What are you staring at, Ace? There's nothing there but the corner,"

"Hey, Koala, mind if i take one of the flowers? Just one of them, i promise,"

Koala didn't refuse him, but she didn't quite agree either, keeping silent. Thanking her, Ace plucked one of the flowers out of the bouquet for Sabo - the top one, with the biggest petals and the one with the most striking blend of red and white - and he walked over to the little ghost. She seemed confused, her eyes were locked on to the flower in his hand.

"Here you go," he offered, still smiling, "A pretty flower for a pretty girl,"

If she still could, he thought she'd be blushing. She beamed at him to reveal 2 missing tooth, and her little hands shot up towards the offered flower, "Thank you, mister! It's so pretty!"

Ace laughed, reaching up to ruffle her hair. His hand went through her, making him feel cold wisp but he kept the gesture as one would a real thing.

When he walked away, he could still hear her humming happily, just like how he could see from his peripherals the way Koala kept her eyes on that empty corner. This sort of thing didn't weird her out anymore, not with how long she'd known him and how long it had been since she found out what he could do, but he knows she still feels wary of it sometimes. He'd apologize to her later, once they're out of the girl's earshot.

Back on that same corner, should any passerby looked, they'd only see a single flower lying in one of the hospital's corner.

They'll never see the little girl with the torn up body cradling a single carnation flower close to her no longer breathing chest.

* * *

He couldn't exactly explain how he was able to, but for as long as he could remember, Ace always could see what others couldn't. He still remembered the stories his father and mother would tell about him as a baby, staring off into nothing and either giggling or crying for no reason. They always chalked it up as a normal infant behaviour, but he started talking to empty corners and claimed that there's someone standing in an empty spot when he turned 6, and they began to grew suspicious. And rather afraid.

People suggested that he's in the right age to start developing imaginary friends, while there are a couple of people who said that he might be not quite right in the head. Following the former advice, his father would often fumble between supporting his 'wild imagination' and trying not to encourage him too much as he gets older. Hearing the latter, His mother would furiously berate whoever said it, because no matter what, her son is perfect the way he is.

Back then, Ace saw nothing wrong with it, but if he ever looked back to his childhood as an adult, he'd remember how much his parents had to walk on eggshells when it comes to him.

Still, it was all on the past, and both had gotten used to it. Ace had just entered his teenage years when he started to realize exactly what it is that he kept seeing, and he learned to keep what he sees to himself. He started refraining himself from mentioning that there's a man with half of a face standing beside a memoriam of an accident victim, or that the reason behind the mysterious self-playing piano back at high school was because of the student with a rope mark around her neck who plays it every day at 4 P.M.

Not a lot of people can understand, or believe that you can see ghost, after all. The few people he told would either laugh at his face or make fun of him, and so far, only a couple of people in his life truly understood; his parents obviously being one - though he sometimes think their acceptance was more in relief over any sort of explanation for his behaviour, no matter how outlandish - his childhood friend and brother in everything but blood, Sabo, and his little cousin, Luffy. Koala, Sabo's girlfriend, was another recent addition to that very small group of people who had been told of his ability, and her eventual acceptance and effort to understand was what made Sabo sure she's the one.

At least, that's what he's been told.

Because in Ace's humble opinion, it's kind of ridiculous to determine how much you're meant to be with someone based on how that person will accept the fact that your best friend has some supernatural ability. Looking at them now, bickering over the fact that Sabo is refusing to eat hospital food and Koala is refusing to smuggle him some fast food on her next visit, Ace would say they made a cute couple. Loud and sometimes too stubborn for their own good, but they're definitely a good fit.

"But Koalaaa, they tasted like cat food! I want some real food! Haven't i suffered enough in the emergency unit? The fact that i'm not there anymore means i'm fine now, right?"

"If you're fine, they won't keep you in the hospital, stupid! And you need those food to get healthy sooner! How'd you even know how cat food tasted like, anyway?"

"Well, there was this one dare Ace got me to do back in high school… Hey, Ace, you've been pretty quiet there, you okay?"

Ace blinked, glancing away from the outside window to the bed, where Sabo and Koala were. Half of Sabo's face was still in bandage, as well as the majority of him, most of them hidden under the ugly, patterned smock he had to wear since his admittance. He seems a lot more lively and cheerful lately, which is a great relief for Ace, when he still remembered how crushed and depressed he had been just a couple of weeks ago since the accident that landed him here in the first place.

Foosha might be a moderate sized, sleepy town, but it was only recently awoken with the uproar about a suspected serial arsonist running wild in her midst. There had been no less than 100 major arson cases in the last 4 years, and no matter what the police are doing, they never seem to be able to catch the culprit, and there's a never ending call in the fire department. As one of said firemen, today was one of the few days Ace could visit Sabo and the first time he had since he's finally released from intensive care unit, and only after he begged his chief for a day off.

There was nothing he could've done, Ace realized. The burning of the town hall where Sabo worked in was sudden and the fire had spread too quickly, but sometimes he stared at his brother, permanently disfigured and almost died, and sometimes he wished he could've—

"Ace?"

"Just looking at that guy standing behind the window," he jerked his chin to said direction, "I think he likes listening to the two of you,"

"What?!" immediately, Sabo jumped, snapping his head so quickly to the general direction of the window that Ace was concerned he might hurt himself again, "There's— there's someone there?! Oh fuck, oh fuck, why did you have to tell me?! You know i don't like that kind of shit! Aaaace, come on, you're kidding, right?! Or if you're not, can you please tell them to leave me alone? I'm just placed here by the hospital staff, i don't wanna bother any evil spirit!"

Next to him, Koala push Sabo to lay back down on the bed, but her eyes was also locked to the window, concerned.

Feeling a little bad, Ace rubbed his nape, "Yeah, yeah, i was just joking. There's nothing in this room,"

Not on the window, anyway. But the old guy sitting on the sofa on the far side of the room doesn't seem to mind being dismissed like that. He seems like the kind of person with good humour too, because he simply chuckled, tapping his walking cane on the floor before standing up and walking towards the wall, bypassing it to go somewhere else. Before he completely left, however, he caught Ace glancing at him, and with another mirthful grin, he winked and left the room.

Judging by the smock, he's probably another patient who passed away in this hospital. Since he had been here since he came in, there's a big chance that the man had died in this very same room or at least somewhere nearby.

Probably best not to say that to Sabo though.

With a large, relieved sigh, Sabo glared at him, "Damn you, you know how much i hate it when you do that,"

"Sorry, but it's always funny to see you freak out—"

His words were cut off when he heard the door click open, and the young raven haired man turned to see a figure clad in white entering, clipboard in hand. The first thing that he noticed was the tired, blue eyes hidden behind a pair of wire-frame glasses, which is something of a surprise, because that oddly shaped mob of hair should've caught his attention first. Clean shaven on the sides and with a wild tussled hair, he'd say that this guy looks like a walking pineapple.

A goddamn hot one, but damn, that hair.

"Good evening, Mr. Outlook," hot-but-why-pineapple greeted, smiling cordially at Sabo, before glancing to Ace and Koala, "Sorry to bother you while you have guest, but i need to do a routine checkup and give you your medicines,"

Sabo shook his head, "Hey there, doc. Not a problem," he said as he pulled the sheets back and sat up straighter with the help from Koala. Judging the familiar way Sabo greeted his doctor, he'd say that this doctor must be the one who was responsible for Sabo.

'Doc' looked away from the pair and caught sight of Ace, giving him a curt, acknowledging nod. The longer Ace stared, the more he thought that the guy was kinda cute, and that to make a good impression, he probably should reply to the gesture at some point.

But he was kind of distracted.

It's hard not to be, when behind the doctor, he could see two people standing, one of them with a bleeding hole on his chest and the other that Ace could recognize the signs of asphyxiation from, with blue-greyish skin and a deep bruise on his neck.

The sight of ghost had never really bothered him, not even those who obviously has a gruesome death, but what made him stop was the fact that these two were obviously following the doctor. The one on the left, the shortest and younger of the two moved to stand by the doctor's arm, leaning over him to the point that a small part of the ghost's translucent body passed into the doctor's. He looked sad, and a little frustrated when his hand kept passing through the doctor's arm.

There's the sound of someone sighing, and it took Ace a while to realize that it was the other ghost, the one with a giant pompadour and a bleeding hole on his chest, "Haruta, give it up, will you? You know we can't reach him in any way,"

"But he hasn't taken a rest in 48 hours straight, Thatch!" the smaller ghost replied somewhat angrily, "He didn't eat anything the whole day too! He has ulcers, he'll kill himself at this point!"

The other ghost, Thatch, gave a somewhat sad snort, "Admit it. At this point, is he really living?"

"Thatch!"

Ace had seen many ghost in his life, in all sorts of form and shape. There are a couple rare instances that he had seen some ghost who, instead of being chained to a certain place, was haunting someone, but he had never seen multiple of them in the same place and haunting the same person. He always thought that only one ghost could appear in the same area, but these two not only appeared together, they obviously knew each other too.

And more importantly, he thought, glancing to the doctor examining Sabo, they both knew the doctor. That's the whole reason a ghost would follow you around, after all, and it'll take a strong motivation for them to stay by your side.

He hadn't even finished digesting this sight when something else passed by the door like a wisp, this time a slim figure of a woman… or at least he thought so until he noticed the rather underwhelming chest and the deep voice. That hair and all of the make up sort of made it hard to tell at first glance, "Okay, so far, no dice. That time when Jiru could lift a glass was probably a fluke after all, we can't lift anything up from the kitchen," the newcomer sighed, tilting his head back to brush back a fallen hair strand. That motion allowed Ace to be able to see that his neck was crooked in an unusual angle. He'd seen that a couple of times: death from broken neck, "Well, we wouldn't know how to make a plate of food go from the kitchen to his office anyway. Not without making it look like it's flying for no reason,"

"But we have to do something, Izou!" The short brunet - Haruta, was it? - insisted, sounding more and more desperate, "We can't leave Marco like this, there's gotta be something that we can do!"

The long haired man, Izou sighed sadly, "The best thing we can hope for is that it happen like last time again. He'll pass out from exhaustion, his coworkers found him and the head of the hospital had him treated here. It's not ideal, but what else can we do?" he tilted his crooked neck, just so he can stare at the back of the blond doctor, "I just…. he kept getting worse lately. With how he acted lately, and how much he kept throwing himself into his work like this, i'm afraid that it might not take that long for him to join all of us,"

"No! We can't let that happen! There has to be something we can do, maybe we could—"

"Hey, you guys noticed something?"

Ace had been far too entranced watching the other two talk that he forgot that there's a third ghost in the room. Just like the two spirits, he turned to the direction of the voice, and felt his heart leapt when he realized that the 3rd one was staring directly at him, frowning. Oh shit, he didn't mean to get caught.

He heard Haruta ask, "What is it, Thatch?"

"That guy," Thatch spoke again, still staring intently to Ace, who could hardly looked away, "I don't know, but he kept staring, i'm starting to think he can see us,"

"Don't be stupid, Thatch," Izou replied dismissively, "We're ghost, remember? Pretty sure he's looking at the be—"

"I can," the freckled man found himself saying out loud before he could stop himself. The three dead people turned to him almost simultaneously in various degree of surprise and shock, while the other three living ones in the room only turned to him in confusion, "I can totally see you guys,"

Following his blurted exclamation, there was nothing but silence in the room.

Which was soon broken by a high pitched screech of terror from the bed, "Oh, fuck there really are ghost in this room, aren't there?! Koala, forget the flowers, bring me holy water next time!"


	2. Chapter 2

If he had to be honest, there was a time, years ago when Ace was first introduced to the concept of having to share his best friend with someone else, that he sort of resented Koala. It's nothing against her personally, he thought she was kinda cute - the same way a toddler would find puppies and hamsters cute, and the marsupial-inspired name doesn't help at all - and she's one tough cookie that apparently was smart enough to keep up with Sabo in the study group of his advanced classes. Ace didn't think anyone could, or at least, average student Ace can't do that with his school valedictorian best friend.

But there's a difference between thinking of her as 'that girl Sabo would often talk about during their down time or whose name would always, always come up somehow while they hang out', and thinking of her as 'that girl who said yes even after Sabo's disastrous attempt to ask her out, who obviously cares for him as much as he cares for her, and one day they'll get married and leave Ace alone'.

Because that had been what he had feared. Sabo hadn't just been his best friend, he was his _only_ friend. He had been the only person outside of his parents and cousin who understood him even when from middle school to college he was often ostrasized for his 'weird quirks', and he had been the only person who truly wanted to befriend him. It was a young friendship that he didn't expect to have lasted as long as it did, and by the time they both graduated and entered the adult life, Ace wished it would last forever. So when Koala entered Sabo's life as more than just a friend, he supposed he had been fearful of being replaced, and eventually forgotten like he never mattered.

Of course, he was hardly 18 years old then, juvenile and full of self-doubt and hatred over his 'difference'. But now, 24, a bit more stable on his feet and having just watched his best friend survive a disastrous incident weeks prior, he realized he's never been more glad for Koala for being the kind of person Sabo so obviously needed in his life.

"I didn't think it was going to be this bad," Sabo chuckled, but that laughter sounded the absolute opposite of joyful. Just minutes ago, the doctor had just finished replacing his bandage for the first time, and Ace supposed it was a good thing there's only him and Koala visiting today because the way Sabo's face had fallen over his state of appearance was _gut wrenching_, "I look like a damn troll,"

Half of his face, and nearly most of the same part of his torso was melted, there's no other way to say it. The hours long surgery he had been admitted in the first time had done enough facial and skin reconstruction, the doctor had said, but there's not much they could do cosmetically when they had been too focused on keeping him alive from smoke inhalation and having 3rd degree burns all over his body. Sabo's hair, the wavy blond locks that reach down to his jaw, has turned into a pale patchy mess on the top of his head, most of it having burned, but at least if he gives it time, it'll grow back more or less the same way.

But the rest of him was…

During these arson cases, he had seen the victims sometimes after even the last ember had fizzled away - both their dead bodies and the souls that still stick around in the mortal plane, not understanding how they had died and some not even realizing they had passed away.

Some of them had looked exactly the way Sabo was now.

But he didn't want to say it, and he couldn't think of some better way to say that he's glad that at the very least, Sabo was still very much corporeal.

And that's when Ace's gratitude to Koala came to play, because she had grabbed the blond man's hand, with the permanently shrivelled and melted skin, took one look of his asymmetrical features, and leaned over to kiss his cheek, gentle and soft, "Troll or not, that still feels like my boyfriend right there,"

Sabo gave her a smile, but it was shaky, and before long, his eyes had gone watery as well, "Seriously? My skin probably felt like some shrivelled up raisins now. So's everything else about me," his voice was barely a whisper, as if afraid that if he spoke any louder, he'd give away his actual feelings, "You don't like raisins,"

Koala snorted, but all that it did was letting her loose control of the tears that had been building up behind her eyes. She snorted messily, lips quivering when she said, "If it means i get to keep you, then i'll learn to like raisins just for you,"

It's possibly the most jarring and bizarre conversation he had ever heard, and yet, from the far side of the room where he had banished himself, Ace couldn't help but smile and felt his own throat closing up from welled up emotion. He watched them kiss again, and again, and again until someone started crying and he doubt neither realized who it was, and decided that he could give them some space. The day is still fairly young, and visiting hour is far from over. He'd figure out what to say when he comes back.

Ace had just closed the door behind him, taking one last peek through the small mosaic window to see his two friend's huddled shadow, when he turned and almost got the shock of his life.

Suddenly standing behind him was a man, and not just any man, but the same pompadoured ghost who had been following Sabo's doctor, "Shit!" he exclaimed, earning himself a dirty look from a passing nurse. Once she left and the hall was once again empty, Ace gave his surrounding one last glance before addressing the spirit, "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be following that doctor? Wait, how long have you been here?"

Instead of answering him, Thatch - if he remembered the name right - let out a huge sigh of relief. Ace is pretty sure ghost doesn't have to breath, what with being dead and all, but he supposed some gestures are just too ingrained in people even in death, "Oh god, i can't believe this. You really can see us," he cleared his throat, to gain some sort of a composure probably, "Listen, i know this is really sudden, but i really need your help. My entire family needs your help,"

He was about to say something else, when out of the thin air another ghost materialize next to him like a wisp of air. Bald and chubby cheeked, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the man until you got to his body just below the waist and saw that they're crushed beyond belief, flat like a gruesome pancake. His eyes were wide with urgency, where Ace could see dark red vein popping on the side of his eyeballs, as if they're about to pop out of his skull. That did not come from his expression, "Thatch, did you find that person you said could see us yet?! Marco, Marco, he—"

The man, scanning Ace from head to toe and his nearly popped eyes widened even more when he caught the way Ace followed his eye movement, "You, you really can….," he trailed off, pointing at Ace with one bloated finger.

Ace nodded carefully and he blinked, his eyes sinking and popping out rather sickeningly at the gesture, "Well, shit,"

"Blamenco, what the hell happened? What happened to Marco?" Thatch's voice seems to break the man's astonishment, who flailed once he remembered what he was here to do.

"I don't know, he was checking on some medicine for his next patient, then he suddenly keeled over and vomited— i don't know it looks dark and i think there's blood in it, and he just, he just fainted and there's literally no one else in that room," All of the words came in a barely legible string of words, and the man, Blamenco must've realized it too when he just turned again to Ace and with a pleading expression reached for his hand, "Please, kid, if you can see us then please, come with us! Please help my brother! He might be in danger!"

It was the word 'danger' that kickstarted Ace's entire nerves and brain, the training and mental readiness as a firemen immediately taking over his senses in the face of possible crisis, "You're talking about the doctor, right? Where is he?"

Apparently, he's on 3 floors above this current one, and without thinking, Ace ran.

* * *

Okay, so in a hindsight, running in a hospital of all places wasn't the best idea, but no one had stopped him all the way here - or at least, no one had been fast enough to stop him - with here being a thick, tall door with the eye-catching sign that says 'STAFF ONLY'.

Briefly, he faltered at the sight, but he wasn't given much time to gather his thoughts and decide whether or not this is a good idea when he felt cold wisp passing through his middle and saw Thatch passing through him to go right inside. Blamenco stopped by his side, eyes still wide and disturbingly squeezed out, "What are you stopping for, kid?! He's inside!"

"But the sign said—"

"Fuck the sign, my brother is dying!"

And that exclamation just jolted Ace enough to burst inside.

Inside, as it turns out, was some sort of a medicine storage room, with rows upon rows of cabinet. The sterile, chemical smell hit him at full force, but nothing truly made Ace stop in his tracks and drop his jaw than the sheer amount of ghost inside. There's so many of them, in all shape and sizes, and in between them he could recognize Izou with the crooked neck and blue-grey skinned Haruta, who was kneeling down and frantically calling out to something concealed from Ace by the large cabinets.

Not that he has time to fully take the view in, when the ghost next to him shouted, "He's here!" and all of those ghost turned simultaneously right at him.

That almost made Ace stumble back again, if he didn't caught sight of the leg peeking out from the far side cabinet, one that's decidedly human enough and most importantly, lying on the floor, possibly dying like the ghost had said.

The freckled male dashed over, almost stumbling against a few cabinets of pills and whatnots, and decided that despite all of the ghost and their horrid states, nothing made his heart plummets more than the sight of the only living human being in this crowd.

Though, if he's not quick enough, he didn't think the guy will be alive all that long.

Only less than an hour ago, the man had been obviously standing even if not entirely healthy. Now, he was lying on his side in a fetal position, hair were entirely plastered to his forehead and temple due to how sweaty he was, face white as sheet and lips almost blue with weak yet laborious pants escaping between them. His arms were both curled around his stomach weakly, yet his hand was clutching on to his shirt so hard his knuckles turned white, as if he's in excruciating pain.

Just a few feet away, Ace could caught sight of what indeed could be mistaken to be a pile of day old blood, but from the pungent smell, that's probably the bloodied vomit Blamenco mentioned earlier.

"Oh shit," the raven haired male exclaimed, now entirely focused on the seemingly unconscious figure on the floor rather than the fact that there's at least dozens of dead souls right above him, all of them who chattered and shouted in panic. Crouching over him, Ace could see that the doctor's entire body was shaking like a leaf and yet the moment his hand brushed against a patch of skin, he almost cursed again by how much the man was burning up.

As Ace slipped an arm underneath his nape to lift him up, something clattered onto the floor. A hospital staff ID, he realized, belonging to one 'Dr. Marco Newgate'.

"..kind of doctor can't take care of himself?" he mumbled just under his breath, pocketing the ID before he slipped his other arm below the man's bended knees before lifting him up.

And almost stumbled because one, he's pretty sure he saw earlier that the doctor was at least taller than him and for a man his size, Ace didn't think he was going to be this damn _light. _And two, because the moment he lifted his head, he was looking up at a massive elderly man looking down at him with a half burned face and a solemn expression. At least Sabo's burnt skin was still that, a skin. This man, there was nothing but flesh underneath the char, and he's so sure he could actually see the man's skull underneath all of the molten mess.

There's only a couple of times where a ghost state can actually make him flinch. This is the one time where he felt his stomach drop and gasp in horror.

Which, in hindsight, is rude as hell, but if the elderly man was offended, he didn't say anything. His eyes - both the intact one and the half melted one - were locked to the man he's carrying, lips pulled down in grief in contrast to his magnificent half-moustache. The longer he stared, the more Ace thought he had seen him somewhere, or at least he might've been familiar with this man once upon a time.

Had he really? Maybe it'll be easier to tell if half of his face wasn't burnt away.

"Marco," he heard the old ghost's mournful voice calling, his eyes making him look ancient with the amount of sorrow, "I'm sorry for being so powerless, my son,"

The body in Ace's hold barely twitched, aside from the continuous laborious pants that's starting to grow weak.

Once again, he ran - and again felt some concerned fascination over just how light this grown man's body is - and it didn't take long for Ace to leave the empty halls where the medicine room had been to arrive in a more crowded waiting room of sorts, complete with its own reception area and much to his relieve, doctors and nurses, "Help!" he shouted, gaining their attention immediately, "I need some help here!"

One of the nearest doctor, with a long goatee and an even longer ponytail rushed towards him with a severe expression, "What happened? What— Dr. Newgate!"

The events that proceeded felt all too familiar for Ace, only instead of the usual routine, there was the fortunate lack of burning building in the background and the 'victim' that was quickly relinquished from him was, in fact, not burned, though possibly fighting for his life all the same, "He also vomited… i don't think it was entirely blood, but it looked like it, only brownish like it's day old, but with specks of red ones. Might be something internal,"

One of the doctors, an elderly - really, really elderly - woman glanced at him with critical eyes, then gave him a nod, "Thank you, boy. That's helpful," In a voice full of authority, the elderly doctor called for a stretcher, and with the sort of organized chaos only hospital staff can work under, Ace watched as Doctor Newgate was laid down and wheeled away by a group of doctors and nurses.

Unbeknownst to all of them, Ace watched as the myriad of ghosts from the medicine room earlier followed right behind them, making the hallways seem much more crowded than it actually is.

It was a commotion, and suddenly, it was silence.

"Thank you for finding him," he heard from his left, and saw the first doctor that saw him earlier still standing there. He rubbed his long goatee, sighing, "I… As his colleague, i truly am grateful. This is not the first time Doctor Newgate was found like this. Last time, if it hadn't been for a coincidence, no one would've found him too," the doctor fell silent, staring off to the direction where the entire group of doctors and nurses had left earlier, "He hasn't been the same since…,"

Instead of finishing his sentence, the doctor shook his head and took one of Ace's hand for a cordial handshake, "Never mind that. Thank you again. My name is Dr. Aladine, with Dr. Newgate incapacitated, if there's anything you need some help with, please don't hesitate to ask for me. Was there something you were discussing with him before he… before this?"

"Oh, uh, it's fine. I'm just here to visit my friend. I uh," Ace bit his lower lips, mind working a mile a minute. He couldn't just say he's directed to find the guy by ghosts, "I just got lost trying to go back and accidentally found him,"

Dr. Aladine nodded, but he seems quite distracted to fully listen to Ace's words. Well, seeing one of your co-worker fainting in the workplace - not for the first time, apparently - could shook up some people he supposed, even if you work in a high-tension environment such as the hospital. He know he couldn't keep his cool entirely when he found out one of his co-workers were injured in line of work, "I see. Then we are truly fortunate, then,"

He left not long afters when his pager went off, leaving Ace to stand in that now all too quiet hallways on his own, all the excitement and adrenaline squeezed out of him.

"Thank you,"

Okay, maybe not quite alone. He turned to his right, and almost jumped again when he sees the giant of a ghost from earlier by his side, staring solemnly to the end of the halls where the commotion earlier had disappeared to, "Uh, don't mention it," Ace muttered awkwardly, just now realizing just how massive the man truly was. And how, within every inch of that massive body, he could see various of wounds, some of them small and seemingly old, but the ones that caught his eyes were large, fatal and brutal. The large, empty hole on his chest, allowing one to see right past him, was probably the most disturbing of all.

…No, it's still his face. That weirdly familiar face that's half melted away.

In all of his life, Ace learned that a ghost would take form of their body the second they died, and usually, that made it easy for him to tell just how they met their unfortunate end. Someone with a stab wound like Thatch obviously died of blood loss, some with no marks either died peacefully in their sleep or died of certain illness, and there are so many various ways to tell, but most had been clear just what the reason for their deaths had been.

This man? Ace really couldn't tell. All of the wounds were fresh at the time of his death, as if he suffered all of them at the same time, or at least, could withstand most of them until one proves to be too much. The hole in his chest was his guess, possibly from blood loss, but it could also be the fact that he could see that the man's lungs and heart were crushed.

(He supposed he should be more surprised that a man this old could withstand so much damage to his body before giving up, but then he grew up with Grandpa Garp in his life and Ace thinks his brain just sorts of accepts that all old men are stronger than your average teenagers)

Slowly, the old man nodded, before he started to walk away, his steps slow yet powerful even in death.

* * *

Left to his own devices, Ace wasn't entirely sure what to do. He thought of going back to Sabo's room, because despite how fast time felt between the moment Thatch found him to the time he watched the large old man walked away, the entire thing had happened in the span of 15 minutes. That should be ample time for Sabo and Koala to worked things out of their system, and maybe they're wondering where he was already.

But on his way back to the hospital wing where Sabo's room was, Ace was stopped on his tracks at the sight of a curled figure sitting against the wall, one that people kept walking past as if they didn't notice them.

The curled figure lift up their face, and Ace realized why. It's Haruta, one of the ghost behind Doctor Newgate. There's tears running down his face, despite him being so sure that bodily function no longer applies to spirit, and it was just such a sad sight that Ace couldn't help but approach him, "Hey,"

Haruta looked up, and as soon as he saw who it was, he scrambled to stand up and spread both of his arms as he lunged for Ace. It's a good thing that he's incorporeal because he went pass Ace's body, though his arms hung around the raven haired male's shoulder as if they're truly hugging. Whatever it is he was saying was unintelligible between his numerous sobbing, and this up close, Ace couldn't help but notice just how young he is. Not as young as the girl he saw in the hospital's entrance, but he looked younger than Ace, at least around Luffy's age, and considerably much younger than the other ones he had seen with Doctor Newgate so far.

With a soft sigh, Ace reached up just over Haruta's shoulder to give him a consoling pat, "Is… did something happen to Dr. Newgate?"

"I don't know," Haruta told him in a nasally voice, perfectly depicting a living being with stuffed nose, "They're checking him over, but i don't want to know. I don't want to see Marco like that. I hate seeing my big brother like that,"

Unable to think of anything to say, Ace simply kept his silence and kept rubbing his back. Come to think of it, earlier, Blamenco also called Dr. Newgate his brother. Could it be that they're all related?

After missing a passing visitor who stared at him oddly - Ace supposed he looked like he's standing with his hand hovering for no reason - he opted to sit down on the nearby row of chair, Haruta curling up to himself again next to him.

"We all died 5 years ago," Haruta started, his voice a low murmur, glancing up at Ace, "Did you hear about, uh, what did they call it? Oh, right, the Newgate Arson?"

Ace, in fact, did, and he didn't think there's anyone who didn't. It was the biggest news all around Foosha, even all over the country of Raftel; Conglomerate and philanthropist Edward Newgate and his entire family were all killed in a single night due to a major fire in his estate mansion in one of Foosha's more secluded district. It shook up society at wide, considering how well known the family's patriarch had been and how horrifying the entire incident was, with every media outlet blared about it for months, ranging from the actual reporting of the incident, to conspiracy theories about a family wide massacre.

Aside from that, Edward Newgate had been his father's oldest business partners, and they're apparently close enough that Ace remembered his father going to the funeral to give a eulogy. And when Ace decided to join the fire department not long after, his mother had been worried sick, using the reminder of that incident to ask him to reconsider. A year later, the mass arson around Foosha started, and Ace remembered hearing his chief in the department complaining about the media trying to link the Newgate fire with the recent arsons, calling it a 'putrid attempt in mass hysteria and sensationalization'.

Oh.

Oh, that's why the old man from earlier felt so familiar.

"That was Edward Newgate, and you're his family members," Ace gasped, realization dawning on him, "The doc's last name is Newgate too. …Wait, i thought the news says that everyone died—"

Haruta shook his head, "No, not everyone. Out of all of us, Marco was the only one who still survived. After i first wake up and we all found each other dead, it was sad but we're also glad that at least one of us made it out alive, you know?" he sniffled, choking back a sob, "But, then, it's like Marco didn't even want to be alive. Everyday, every single day for 5 years, we have to keep watching him waste away, like he's killing himself without noticing and there's nothing we could do about it. Every night he'll cry out for us, and lately he doesn't even try to pretend like he wants to go on…,"

Ace watched him wipe his nose with the sleeve of his shirt, which he notices now had some burnt patches on them. He had seen bodies that died in fire, especially through all of the arsons as of the late. Fuck, he didn't want to think about how all of the Newgates must've felt like when they first woke up to find nothing but their body's charred remains. Haruta's death from asphyxiation must've been from him inhaling too much carbon dioxide, instead of any sort of strangulation like Ace had first thought.

Somehow, that line of thought there left a bad taste in his mouth.

With another noisy, wet swipe on his nose, Haruta spoke again, "It hurts seeing him like that. And it hurts even more that there's nothing we can do about it. We can't touch him or anything around him, and he can't see or hear us,"

There's a blur of motion from his side and suddenly Haruta was in front of him, ashen face all too close to Ace's own with his teary eyes open wide, "But you… you can see us! And you're still alive, so he can see you!" he lifted both of his hands to grab on to Ace's shoulders, and the reason why Ace could tell was because that area suddenly felt chilly, like there's a cold wind hovering over him, "Can't you do it for us? Can't you help us take care of him the way we couldn't anymore?"

Ace blinked, feeling slightly dazed over the sudden movement, "I— Look, i felt bad about everything he and you guys went through, but i don't know—"

"Please!" he was cut off before he could continue, "Please, Marco didn't have anyone else but us! We're all adopted by Pops, without any other family. We always had each other's back but now that we can't take care of him anymore, if we can't be there for him anymore, he's absolutely alone in this world! We had hoped that he'd find someone else, but he completely closed himself away from the world, and there's nothing we can do to stop him! So please—"

He hadn't finished talking when, in the same manner Blamenco suddenly appeared during his conversation with Thatch, one of the ghost he remembered seeing surrounding Dr. Newgate appeared. The man was tall and extremely well built - though not as much as Edward Newgate himself - with a stern expression that melted when he caught sight of Haruta, "There you are," he spoke gentle in a gruff voice, speaking of deep familiar affection, "Are you alright, Haruta?"

"Kingdew," Haruta cried out, releasing Ace to lunge towards the newcomer instead. Ace found it rather interesting to see that when ghost touch each other they didn't bypass their bodies the way they would when touching a living human, "How's Marco? Is he okay? He's not… he's not going to be joining us, is he?"

Kingdew shook his head, sighing, "I don't really get all of the medical mumbo jumbo, but it doesn't look like it's anything they couldn't handle. It's okay, baby brother, i don't think Marco will be with us anytime soon," when Haruta began to sniffle again, he bended down just enough to pull the younger into a hug, and that was when Ace caught sight of the deep gash, blood and cracked skull staining the top of his blond crown. Blunt force trauma, but his skin was equally grey as Haruta's. If that wound on his head didn't kill him, then it must've knocked him out while the smoke in the fire must've been what actually caused his death.

When they separated, the beefy man turned to look at Ace, and bowed his head, "I haven't had the chance to say it, but thank you again for saving Marco's life. Who knows what could've happened to him if there had been no one who can save him,"

All of these gratitude was starting to make him feel awkward. He knows he should be used to it, with his line of work, but he never did get used to receiving compliments from strangers, 'No, i'm glad to hear that he's going to be okay,"

"Hey, i never got your name," Haruta spoke again, voice still a little raspy and tearful, "I'm Haruta Newgate, and this is my older brother Kingdew. You've met Thatch and Izou earlier, and Blamenco too, and there's still quite a lot of us,"

"I'm Ace. Ace Gol," the freckled man introduced himself, after a second of deliberation.

Haruta nodded, smiling slightly, "Okay, Ace," the smile faded slightly when Haruta averted his gaze, fidgeting with his hand, "I'm sorry for being so forceful earlier, but please understand. We won't force you if you don't want to, but we're desperate," his lips began to quiver again, "We just… we just want Marco to be alright,"

* * *

"Ooh, there he is!"

"Hey, Ace!"

It was much later than he thought it would be when Ace made his way back to Sabo's hospital room, and during his absence, both his parents and Luffy had come to visit. There's also the permeating smell of grease filling the air, and he didn't even need to look at the boxes on the bedside table and Sabo's disgustingly trying to chow down on a jumbo double bacon cheeseburger to know what's going on, "Finally got someone to bring you your fast food, didn't you?"

Through a mouthful, Sabo nodded and mumbled something in absolutely joy. Though obviously disagreeing with this turn of event, Koala still patiently wiped the corners of his mouth from any excess tomato sauce.

From where she sat on the room's sofa, Rouge lifted a container full of her homemade cookies and gestured for him to come sit by her side. Roger had taken resident on the other chair in the room and was facing the TV to watch something on the news channel, "Now where have you been? Koala and Sabo said you've been out for quite some time,"

"Just trying to buy a snack and find something to eat," Ace lifted the candy bar he purposefully bought to complete his excuse from his pocket. He didn't think he had been away all that long, but he didn't really want to come back just yet after his talk with Haruta and had taken a walk around the hospital's outside garden to clear his head from today's happenings. Ace sat right next to his mother to snatch up one of the offered cookies. It was hazelnut mix, not really his favorite but it was Sabo's.

"Hey, Dragon can't come today because of the town hall reparation, but he sends his regards," Roger suddenly said while staring to his phone screen, likely texting with Dragon. He then lifted his head up, glanced between the three younger men in the room and grinned mischievously, "And his father,"

"What?! Grandpa's coming?!" Luffy jumped from the corner that he had occupied, almost dropping the gaming console he had been playing, "Oh nooo, why didn't dad say anything! He's still mad about the D i got on my math test! Aaagh, i should've brought Zoro or Usopp as backup here!"

"Luffy! You got a D?!"

_Please, Marco didn't have anyone else but us!_

His family might be fairly small, but together, they made a rambunctious bunch. His mother and father were a loving, rowdy couple and Ace had to grow up in that sort of environment, and with Luffy's father and Ace's maternal uncle, Dragon working in the government as a high ranking official, they always took him in like a second son ever since he was young. Sabo, as Ace's good friend since young, has always been included in the trio of children his parents pretty much take in as their own, a relationship even more cemented by the fact that Sabo now worked as Dragon's assistant in the office.

_Every night he'll cry out for us, and lately he doesn't even try to pretend like he wants to go on._

And it was this close familial bond that kept Ace going to this day. Even when most of the world ridiculed and shun him for his 'difference', he knew he'd always these people to rely on. Ace have his parents who'd welcome him and accept him with open arms, his mother with a gentle smile and a plate of baked goods, his father with a pair of ears to lend and a boisterous laugh that makes him think everything will be alright. Ace knows that his 'brothers', Luffy and Sabo will always have his back through thick and thin, as they always did through the years.

He knows that this group of people, while small, means everything to him, and with them, he'd always have somewhere to belong.

_We always had each other's back but now that we can't take care of him anymore, if we can't be there for him anymore, he's absolutely alone in this world!_

If he suddenly lost all of this in a single night… His father, his mother, his brothers, his family…

His stomach hurts just thinking about it.

"Ace, where are you going?"

"Sorry, i need to take care of something," abruptly, Ace stood up and dashed towards the door again - thought not before snatching 2 more of his mother's cookies - and stopped on the door just long enough to yell out, "I'll be back soon, i just forgot something!"

The door closed, stared by 5 pairs of confused stares, "Now what's gotten into that boy?" Rouge huffed, "Honestly, he's like a whirlwind sometimes,"

From his chair, Roger shrugged, "Who knows, maybe he saw an old lady ghost and wanted to talk to her or something. You know he does that sometimes,"

"NO GHOST TALK IN THIS ROOM, THANK YOU, I FORBID IT!"

* * *

Welp, tell me what you think so far? And thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: Slight mention of suicidal behaviour and tendency, and subtle symptoms of depression, all at the very end of the chapter. Kind of, but i wanna cover my bases here just in case. **

* * *

"Dr. Newgate's room number?"

"Yeah, i was the one who found him earlier," Ace told the reception nurse, before quickly adding, "I just want to check and see if he's alright. Whatever it is that happened to him seems pretty serious,"

"Oh, it was you!" The nurse's eyes twinkled in recognition, her hand already moving deftly on top of her keyboard before her eyes even reached the monitor, "Usually we'll only let family enter first but," she suddenly fell silent, the same time as the rapid typing behind the counter did as she bit her lower lips. With what he just learned not long ago, Ace could piece together what caused this sudden change in attitude, "Well, i'm sure he'd appreciate the visit. And you're in luck, they just finished his surgery. He's in room 251D, take the elevator to the next floor and it's the second room on the hallway to the left,"

Ace thanked her before walking away to the elevator just by the receptionist counter. As he waited, he overheard the same nurse spoke, voice lowered that he barely caught it, "Huh, i never realized that Dean Crocus was Dr. Newgate's emergency contact and medical proxy,"

Another voice piped up, slightly closer than the first nurse, "Yeah, the dean insisted. Said he owed it that much to Mr. Newgate Sr and Dr. Newgate," in a quieter voice, the same voice spoke again, "I think that's a good thing. 5 years ago - you know, on the aftermath of _that_ incident - by the end of the 2nd week, he got virtually no visitor at all. I don't think he got any the last couple of time he ended up having to be treated too. Safe to say if the dean hadn't stepped up, he probably wouldn't be able to name anyone,"

"Don't he at least have friends that we can inform? This isn't like the last couple of times he fainted, he just got out of surgery. He'd need someone to take care of him after he's discharged, don't you think?"

"But who? Dr. Newgate's not much of a social butterfly before, is he? Now he's pretty much a recluse hermit. Even if we want to, i don't think there's anyone to call,"

"That's kinda sad,"

"Isn't it?"

Without drawing attention to himself, Ace turned away from the elevator, and located the stairs instead.

* * *

The first thing that told Ace that he got the right room, was that in the midst of the moderately crowded hall, there was a hatted man leaning against the door where his destination should be. And not just any man, this one sported a burnt hat and tattered sleeve that barely concealed a charred arm. When the man turned to face him, Ace could see that the rest of his skin that's not ashen black was abnormally red, the kind of shade no healthy human being should have. Or alive, for that matter.

The man, who is obviously another one of the deceased Newgate children, didn't seem to particularly acknowldge Ace yet. With a surreptitious glance to his vicinity, Ace waited until most people were gone or far enough to hear him, before he approached the spectre and stopped just a few feet away. He waited for the ghost to address him in any way, but all he received was silence, as if he didn't see Ace at all.

Those translucent eyes, even belonging to the unliving, seems particularly lifeless. The skin around it and most of his face were angry red and abysmally blackened, just like the rest of him.

After seconds passed, Ace decided to speak up first, "Uh, you're one of Dr. Newgate's brothers, right?"

A low grunt left the ghost, and he reach up to adjust what looks to be a headphone on his ears. There's cracks everywhere on the previously smooth surface, seemingly beyond reparation, "That voice sounded familiar," he glanced to the side, staring at Ace's general direction instead of meeting his eyes, "You're the young man who Thatch said can see us and saved Marco earlier,"

Staring into his dull, vacant eyes, Ace slowly began to understand what's happening, "I've never seen a blind ghost before,"

"Eyesight's 20/20, at least, until the last 5 minutes of my life. Then it just went up in flames, literally," the man chuckled lowly, with a tinge of bitterness in his voice. The kind of acceptance from someone who lived with his condition for far too long, "Curiel Newgate, respectable hunter and gun expert, now your garden variety spook, at your service,"

"Ace Gol, your garden variety ghost seer, i guess,"

Curiel let out a cackle, this time the gesture sounding much more genuine, "Man, if you'd tell me that when i was still alive and kicking, i'd send you packing to the nearest mental asylum. Gotta see it to believe it. Well, not literally, in my case," with a grunt, he pushed himself off from of door, "Haruta told us he told you our story, and everything else he said to you. You here to talk about it?"

Taking in a deep breath, Ace exhaled along with his reply, "Yeah. Are they all in there?"

"Are you gonna accept?" His eyes might be blind, but the Curiel's unblinking stare was intense, "Cause if you're here to turn us down, i'd understand but it's best if you don't come in. My brothers and Pops had enough bad news today, if there's gonna be one more, i'd rather that i'll be the one to break it to them,"

Ace's stomach felt uneasy, "Did something happen to Dr. Newgate? What was wrong with him?"

Reaching up, Curiel adjusted his hat, sighing, "The basic gist of it? Marco got stressed enough to make a hole in his stomach that needs to be sewed up before it got fatal. And apparently we're cutting it close by the time you found him," he shook his head morosely, and a few pieces of the peeling, burnt skin fluttered down to the ground. Even knowing they won't hit them, Ace still took a step away, "He's always been the biggest damn idiot, but this is pushing it," He sounded both angry and sorrowful. And perhaps, even a little regretful.

Somewhere from the corner, conversation and sound of approaching footsteps echoed through the walls. Ace darted his eyes to the side to indeed, see a couple of shadows approaching, "I… I'll help," he told Curiel, lowering his voice, "I'm not sure what you really want me to do or what i can even do, but i'll help,"

The blind ghost lifted his head, eyes wide and a large, satisfied grin slowly forming on his lips, "Well, finally, some good news," he turned around on an exact 180 on his heels facing the door and began to walk through it, "Come on in then," with that, he disappeared.

Ace stared at the door, and braced himself before reaching for the door handle.

If the amount of ghost in the spacious medicine storage earlier had surprised him, right now, with all of them shoved into this cramped hospital room, it feels overwhelming.

The man he now knew as Edward Newgate took an entire large space by himself at the very front of the room, right across the bed where a long sofa was placed. There's enough space next to him for petite Haruta, looking even smaller as he curled into himself like he did with Ace, and another young boy that looked barely older than him with a twisted, obviously broken leg and blue-ish grey skin. He had his arm around Haruta's shoulder in a comforting manner.

All across the room, amongst many other macabre ghost, Ace recognized some of them: Blamenco, his lower half lying flat on the floor while he somehow still managed to keep the rest of him upwards against the wall, Kingdew, who was staring out of the window with his back to Ace, starkly showing that wound on the back of his head, Izou, who stood vigilantly by Dr. Newgate's bed side with a miserable expression, and Thatch, occupying the one chair on the other side of the bed. He was the first one to notice Curiel walking in, and the first to notice Ace.

He wasn't the first thing Ace really noticed, however; the raven's attention found itself landing on the man on the bed, with the pallor nearly as white as the sheets underneath and over him, and suddenly a twist in his stomach. It felt like it was only the slow and barely there movement on his chest that really separate him from the rest of the translucent corpses all around the room.

"Hi again, Ace," Thatch called out, a wry smile on his face, "Uh, i didn't properly introduce myself before, did i? I'm Thatch Newgate, and this here is my brothers and father. Though, from what i've been told, seems like you know that already,"

There's a movement on one side of the room, and Ace's gaze followed it to see Haruta leaping up from his seat, staring at him intently with pursed lips and an entirely too hopeful expression, "I'm Ace, but looks like you knew that too," he chuckled, though he let the sound died down a little when it sounded a bit too dry to his own ears. He gave the room another glance, finding that each one of them was staring at him - even Curiel, though only to his general direction - and stifled down a sigh, "Look, like i told Curiel, i'll help, but i don't really know what you all want me to do,"

"Isn't it obvious?" one of the men spoke, another sturdy, robust man that's even taller and bigger than Kingdew spoke, his long goatee and wild mane flails erratically at his excited gesture. Along with it, so does the exposed entrails from the cut around his middle, "You can see and talk to us, that means you can deliver what we want to say to Marco. You can tell him that his brothers and father had been watching him and they wished for him to stop beating himself up and feeling guilty over our passing and start again—"

"No,"

The man trailed off at the rumbling objection, his head snapping to where the family patriarch sat. Edward Newgate crossed his arms over the hole on his chest, his lips pressed into a thin line, "We will not inform Marco of our presence,"

"But— But," the man stammered, incredulous, "But why not, Pops? If he knows we're here, then maybe he'll—"

"He'll what, Atmos? He'll get better? How would knowing that his deceased family's ghost is always around him make him able to continue on with his life? Isn't that what we wanted for him? To be able to move on?" aged, exhausted eyes found Ace's own, staring at him with deep unfathomable consideration, "And what makes you think he's just going to believe this young man about it? I know my sons, each and every one of you. I know the kind of man Marco is, as much as i know how reckless he can be. Nothing good can come from him knowing about us,"

Atmos opened his mouth one more time, frowning and obviously ready to object, but in the end, no words came from him. He only sighed dejectedly, before slumping down on the floor, spilling what looked to be flattened intestines to the floor and on to the shoes of the man next to him. Said man, stern faced and muscled bound under the melted skin and charred skin, gave his brother a brief look before gently shaking the spilled organs off from him.

"Ace, was it?" Edward Newgate's powerful voiced echoed once more, gaining Ace's attention back, "Being dead, we no longer has a physical body, and could no longer interact with him. I simply ask that you could be our medium to do what we could no longer do. Just someone to be there for him, to remind him that he is still human, he's still alive and he needs others in his life. This isolation he had imposed on himself does nothing but trap him in his own mind,"

"Aside from us, he… doesn't really have anyone else," Thatch added sombrely from his side, "I know it's hard to believe, but it's always been like that even when before we died,"

Ace's mind flew back to the conversation he overheard earlier from the nurses, "So, basically you want me to be friends with him?"

"Well, that's one way to put it," the pompadoured man chuckled, "I know that this sounds really unorthodox, but we're desperate. We don't want to keep watching him fade away like this. Right now, you're our only hope,"

"Hah, i've never been asked in a movie reference before,"

"One of the many things i missed from being alive," a fond look crossed Thatch's face as he turned to the bed, one that slowly morphed into a bittersweet expression, "Including being able to talk some sense to my stubborn brother before he could kill himself,"

Those words hung heavily in the room, the mere cause of the tense atmosphere, so much that Ace could almost physically feel it.

In the middle of them, Dr. Newgate continued to slumber, unaware of his surrounding.

* * *

That morning in the fire station, the alarm blared and with the recent scare of arson case, not a single firemen on duty that day didn't leave the their headquarters tense and alert.

Over an hour later, they returned with a much more relaxed gait and attitude, some even laughing between themselves at the memory of sweet little Grandma Gloriosa - more affectionately called as Grandma Nyon by those close to her - loudly berating her granddaughters and hitting them with her walking cane for causing the fire alarm to sound by baking cookies for too long. The memory of her arguing with her granddaughter, Boa Hancock, while her younger sisters, Sandersonia and Marigold mourned the burned remains of their creation was all they could talk about all the way back.

But unlike all of them, even to the end of his shift, Ace remained tense, something that doesn't go unnoticed by his coworkers.

"Man, you look anxious as all hell. What's eating you?'," Eustass Kid told him in the locker room, voice muffled as he dug around his locker next to Ace's. He emerged with a can of body spray, one that was advertised on TV to be 200% more anti-perspiration and anti-odour than any other product. It never seemed to work on the redhead, but probably because he kept using it _after _he's all sweaty and smelly, "Is something wrong with your buddy in the hospital?"

Ace shook his head, fiddling with the zipper of his uniform instead of undressing, "Sabo's fine, he's getting better even. His new doctor said he should be out in a couple of weeks or so,"

"Then did something else happen? You look as nervous as Bepo whenever Law mentioned the word 'shower',"

The freckled male was about to reply - possibly to express offense over being compared to Kid's boyfriend's dog of all things - before the name registered and he thought of something else, "Hey, didn't Law work in Foosha general hospital? He's one of the surgeons, right?"

Kid nodded, dabbing his entire body with a towel that has definitely seen better days. One of these days, Ace will tell him that the reason why no product seems to be able to take care of his stench after work was because he's been doing everything completely wrong and out of order, but today is not the day, "Did he ever mention anything to you about someone named Marco Newgate?" he stood up and walked over to his own locker in search for his bag, where he had kept the ID from yesterday, "He's one of the general physicians there,"

"Marco Newgate? Marco N— Ah, yeah! Newgate," the taller fireman exclaimed, "Yeah, he mentioned the guy a couple of times. He's uh… he's the only survivor from the Newgate Arson, where that conglomerate and the rest of his family died in. A pretty fucked up thing to survive from, not sure to call him lucky or not,' he gave a grimace, and in a way, Ace had to agree with him, "What about him?"

"Did he ever tell you anything about him? Like, the kind of guy he is, or stuff like that?"

Throwing his towel back to the locker, Kid rolled his eyes upward, thoughtful, "Hmm, yeah, he mentioned a couple of things. For one, he was Law's last patient before finishing his residency, and treating someone you know was worse than an exam, apparently. It's he couldn't handle normally - he got carbon monoxide poisoning like most fire victim - but then he kept doubting himself. For example, he told me there was this weird nick and bruise on his neck that he said he can't keep his eyes off from because he thought he caused that little slash on his neck even though logically it might've been cause by debris? He's pretty shaken up after the whole thing but it was a big deal back then, remember?"

'Big deal' was rather underplaying the entire circus around the incident, but then Ace couldn't think of a better way to describe it, "Huh, even Law can feel shaken up, huh?"

"Hah, he made you all think he's some heartless asshole, but i know him long enough to realize he's a marshmallow. Don't tell him i say that though," Kid told him with a grin and a wink, "Hmm, what else is there… Oh yeah, and then there was that fight,"

"A fight? With Dr. Newgate?"

"Nah, not with the doctor himself, he kept to himself ever since. It happened sometime after the fire, the hospital dean was fighting with some guy over being the doc's power of attorney and medical proxy. The dean didn't want anyone else listed, but the guy went as far as trying to bribe him and the old dean just blew his top in front of his staff and the patients. No one ever seen him that aggressive, apparently,"

Didn't the nurses from yesterday also mentioned something about Dr. Newgate's emergency contact and the hospital dean? "Bribing to be someone's medical proxy? That sounds really shady,"

"Don't it? But it kinda makes sense, i mean, no disrespect, but the guy basically is the sole heir to billions of belli worth or wealth, assets and whatnot. Even the news made a whole big deal about it so much that the hospital's put on lockdown from any news crew back then. There's bound to be some people who'll try to take advantage of that, right?"

Kid has a point. And if there are more people like that, could that be why Dr. Newgate became such a recluse?

"Why'd you ask though? That had something to do with what's been eating 'ya?"

Because Ace has agreed to befriend and essentially take care of someone he completely has no idea about on the behest of their deceased family members and has no idea how to even approach this. And now the more he learned about the doctor, the more that nothing about this will be easy.

"Nah, just curious,"

* * *

When Ace entered Dr. Newgate's hospital room that evening after his visit to Sabo's, he began to notice certain differences.

The interior of Dr. Newgate's room was identical to Sabo's, and yet it was the little details that made it so much different from one another. Since the first day he was released from the emergency unit and into the current one, Rouge and Koala had taken to making it as homey and comfortable as possible for Sabo by bringing him pillows and a blanket from his bedroom. Everyday, his bedside table was fully cluttered with well-wishes cards from his coworkers, the flowers Koala would bring to spruce up some colour, a gaming console that Luffy lend him so he won't get too bored, and a fresh container of cookies and snacks Rouge would smuggle in for him.

More importantly, everyday, from the minute visiting hours began, Sabo's room will at least have one person accompanying him, most often it being Koala, Ace and his parents, Luffy, Grandpa Garp, Great-Aunt Dadan with the rest of their extended families and friends visiting in rotation, making sure there's always going to be people around. And they'll make sure the room will be full of voices, so much that Ace was sure the amount of time a nurse or doctor that came by the room to warn them about them being a nuisance has exceeded the count from one hand.

Then, on the other hand, this place.

An entire day has passed, but just like yesterday, Dr. Newgate's room was sparse and unnervingly quiet, void of anything personal. No cards, no flowers, no personal belongings, absolutely nothing. Just the sterile bed where he lays, and a tray with only traces and bits of food from the hospital left on the bedside table.

At least his room wasn't empty, because as far as Ace could see, every single one of his brothers and father were all occupying each corner of the room, just like they did yesterday.

But that's the problem: only Ace could see that.

For anyone else coming in, they'd see nothing but empty spaces, and a man sitting on the bed staring forlornly outside of the window.

It made Ace's stomach churn in what felt like pity.

Most of the Newgates had seen him come in, all of them levelling grateful smiles and relieve, as if they hadn't been sure yesterday if he's serious about his agreement. Ace replied with a thin lipped smile, one that fell when Dr. Newgate looked away from the window to train his gaze at him.

If he had looked tired yesterday, right now, he looked completely exhausted. Even the dead all around him seems to have more life in their eyes and smiling faces than him, the only other living being in this room. Clothed in that harsh, bleached smock, he looked much too pale, and everything about him just screams 'wilted and gloomy'. If anyone else is able to see what Ace does, they would've thought the person on the bed was the real ghost.

"Who are you?" Dr. Newgate called out in a weak, monotone voice. He narrowed his eyes, dry lips parting slightly, "….you look familiar,"

"Um, yeah, we kinda met before," Ace told him as he walked deeper into the room, stopping just by the chair occupied by Rakuyo Newgate, whose twisted neck just made it easier for him to look at the bed without even turning his body. He cracked his split open head to the front - and Ace tried to ignore it else he'd wince like he did the first time he saw him do it - before standing up, gesturing to Ace to occupy the chair before sitting by Curiel's side on the floor next to the sofa. Ace took the offer, "I'm Ace, Sabo's friend. You know, Sabo, one of your patients?"

It took Dr. Newgate a while to answer him, and he did it with the same monotone, lifeless voice, "Why are you here?"

Good thing all Ace did along the ride from the fire department to here was preparing his answers for any possible questions. Because, you know, the easy and honest answer of 'your ghost family asked me to' is not an option, "Oh, i just want to check how you were doing. I was the one who found you when you fainted yesterday," he gave the blond man a small smile that he hoped is friendly enough, "You gave me quite the scare there, but glad to see you look better today,"

Well, not by much, but anything beyond 'teetering the thin line between life and death' is good, he supposed.

For a long while, Dr. Newgate didn't say anything. He stared at Ace with the sort of empty stare that could only belong to lifelike, creepy still dolls. Or dead people, "Why?"

Ace blinked, slightly taken back, "Huh?"

The blonde man looked away slowly, facing the other way. His voice was distant, unknowingly staring face to face with a wide eyed Izou as he spoke, "You shouldn't have bothered,"

From where he sat, Ace could see Izou's eyes widening further, his painted lips parting and entire expression a cross between shock and outrage. He wondered if everyone else outside of his line of sight had the same look on their faces. He wondered if he himself had the same look on his face.

"Wait, what—"

"I felt it," Dr. Newgate spoke again in a barely audible whisper, "I was so close…to be with them again,"

He turned again, and this time, something changed in his dull expression. It was anger and spite, emphasised by the bite in his voice that even said in a whisper, Ace could hear much clearer tahan the sudden uproar all over the room, "And you took that away from me, just like that fire took them all away from me,"

* * *

**Bit of a uh, bit of some sprinkles of mystery there, bit of a foreshadowing for that murder mystery tag. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: A tiny bit of reference to suicide. It's pretty subtle, but again, just in case.**

**A pretty short update because something came up, but i'm adding the rest tomorrow/later. I just can't seem to get the pacing right just yet but i haven't updated for a couple of days now. **

* * *

His mother once told him that no matter how nice, polite or helpful you are, there would always be someone who dislike you just because. It's something she would always repeat at any stage of his life, whether it was because the grumpy cat next door scratch him after giving it food, or because the police captain in one district held an open hostility towards him because he once accidentally bumped his dirty uniform against the man's new white jacket.

(Lieutenant Borsalino did say that Captain Sakazuki isn't the friendliest even to his men, however, so he probably shouldn't really count that.

But he's digressing)

Altercations like that happen in his life, as he's sure it will happen to anyone, but never in his life did Ace actually ever see someone looking at him with so much unabashed scorn and contempt.

Not until this very moment, because _he saved the man's life._

His mouth was open but not a word escaped the young man. HIs mind slowly digested the implication in the words he had just said, and with every fraction of understanding, he became even more confused, even more worried, even more speechless. What do you say to that, what do you say in reply to hearing something like that?

Eventually, Dr. Newgate saved him from the effort. He looked away from Ace, once again face to face to his deceased brother staring down at him with his hand clasped in front of his mouth and the rest who simply stared at him with disbelief, "Please leave. I do not wish to receive any visitors,"

"I, i just wanted to help—"

"And you've 'helped' enough," those words were cold, made even more so by the fact that the person speaking them refused to even see him, "If you're still trying to be 'helpful', then please, leave me alone,"

"No, please," from the other side of the room, someone who Ace only barely recognized as Haruta called out through the louder, rushing sound of his blood in his ears and the chair behind him creaking violently as he stood up. Dr. Newgate still steadfastly turned his head to the other way, "Please, Ace don't listen to him. You can't leave him, not when he's like this, he doesn't mean it—"

Another thing that his mother, and father, and plenty other people in his life often told Ace, is that his temper rose so easily. It clouded his mind, judgement, and right now, it made him fall deaf to any other voices in the room and just about anyone else but the haughty man on the bed, who doesn't even deign him with a single eye contact while telling him to get out, "Fine, i'll be going," he spat, teeth gritted and hand balled into a fist, "You're welcome, you ungrateful asshole,"

He could hear his name being called repeatedly from the inside, but they were cut off as soon as the door was slammed shut behind him.

* * *

"So, uh. Everything alright there? Did something happened?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm fine. Nothing's wrong,"

"You sure?"

"Uh-huh, absolutely. Why'd you ask?"

When a few seconds of silence ensued, Ace didn't even need to look at the bed to know that Koala and Sabo were giving each other looks, that creepy silent communication one that only old couples that seems to be together for like, centuries are able to. Or his parents. Or the people in his life who acted like they're his parents, which those two definitely do, "Well, probably because you slipped away after coming here without everyone noticing and just suddenly came back stomping around like an elephant then just fume and sulk in the corner for, like, 15 whole minutes now,"

"I'm not sulking,"

"You're pouting,"

Consciously, Ace retracted his bottom lips, biting them with his upper row of teeth, "It's nothing,"

"…Okay, if you're sure,"

"Hmm,"

In the end, probably deciding they're not going to get anything more out of him, the blond couple began to talk in between each other again, mostly about plans surrounding Sabo's eventual discharge in less than 2 weeks. Ace huffed, leaning back against the sofa.

Okay, so maybe he didn't actually need to be that mad, but he shouldn't feel as guilty as he is feeling now for shouting at Dr. Newgate like that. He's pretty sure he's at least 30% justified for his actions, because a little thank you doesn't hurt anyone, does it? Not that he actually wanted to be thanked for what he did, he could care less, really, but what kind of slap in the face it is to tell someone who saved you from dying a painful death - he'd seen a lot of horrible, slow deaths out there and Ace is pretty sure slowly bleeding out from the hole in your stomach is probably one of the worst ones - that you don't appreciate it because you want to—

Suddenly, he felt mentally tired, with a single sigh seemingly deflating every ounce of power in his body.

Ace's mind wandered back to Dr. Newgate's empty room, and to the miserable expression on his face just before he noticed him. Then he was reminded of the faces of the doctor's family around the room, who had looked much too happy to see him, as if there was nothing better to see someone coming in to visit their brother. How much they obviously cared for him even. 5 years to their deaths, and the amount of pain in Izou's face when Dr. Newgate first told him off.

In a perfect world, there should be voices in that room, complete with ugly glittery get well soon cards and smuggled contrabands to show just how much that family obviously cared and loved each other. Like Sabo and Koala was doing, the Newgates should be talking about going to their favorite restaurant to celebrate and fighting with the patient over jell-o that comes with the food tray because it's the only edible thing in the lot. They shouldn't have to watch their beloved brother and son, so close yet in a different plane of existence altogether, slowly fade away, and only relying on stranger's kindness to be able to reach out to their loved one.

No one should spend all day in the silence and emptiness, despising life.

He let out another long sigh, using his hand to slowly rub his face up and down.

"Ace, seriously, what's going on? You're driving me crazy,"

"Okay, say you guys felt sorry for some guy who has like the worst luck in the world, but he's a complete prick yet you can't help but feel guilty at snapping at him even though it's completely justified because he's an asshole about it but you kinda can't blame him for being an asshole at his position," the sofa creaked as Ace straighten himself up and turned towards the bed, both hands moving animatedly in his explanation. He glanced between both Koala and Sabo, and gestured one more time with his hand, "Do you guys feel guilty for that or what?"

There was a period of silence, until Sabo gave his reply first, short and succinct, "What,"

"Um," Koala raised her hand, as if this is one of her most convoluted classes and Ace is that half-mad teacher who rambles instead of actually lecturing his students, "Can you repeat the question? I zoned out after the 'okay',"

Ace pursed his lips and suppressed another sigh, "Okay. Say you guys felt sorry for some guy…,"

He failed to continue when on the corner of his vision, something poked out of the doorway, and with a quick glance he found that Thatch had followed him here, and was now poking his head inside, eyes darting from corner to corner. He stopped when he caught sight of Ace, then proceeded to phased entirely into the room with an apologetic grimace and a pleading tone, "Can i talk to you? Please?" When Ace simply stared at him - causing Koala to hum in confusion simultaneously with the telltale squeak that meant Sabo was slowly realizing what's happening - the pompadoured ghost stepped further inside, both of his hands even clasped together in front of him, "Look, i'm so sorry for what happened earlier, and i get that you're pissed off, but please, don't walk away from him. We really need your help, Ace,"

Perhaps Ace felt a lot more guilty than he let himself believe, after all, because it didn't take long for him to decide to stand up, as reluctant as his motion was, "I'll be right back," he tossed halfheartedly to his friends, before following Thatch outside.

In this time of the day, most of the visitors for other rooms has already made their way inside, and the doctors rounds for this place seems to have ended a while ago. Ace stepped out to a completely vacant halls, where he leaned against the door and spoke before Thatch could, "He doesn't want any help. Or anyone for that matter,"

"That's why i said we're the one who needs it. Us, his family, because we couldn't stand him being like that anymore," Thatch sigh, less frustrated like Ace's and more just out of plain sadness, "And we know what Marco's trying to do, it just hurts to hear it out of his own mouth,"

No shit. Izou earlier looked like he's either going to shank someone or all out bawled right then and there.

"Still, please, don't take it to heart, and please don't give up on him yet. If you do, then we'd have no chance at all that he'll have someone who can help him get out of this state,"A pair of translucent hands reach for Ace's own, a feeling of nothing more than a cold sensation over his skin, "We just want him to live, and actually want to, instead of spending each day mourning us. That's not living. No one has ever gone through to him because he had pushed everyone else out of his life. You're the only hope we have left that someone will care enough for him, to show him there's still something worth living for. If you don't want to do it for him, then do it for us,"

Though Ace couldn't physically feel those hands on him, he could see just how hard Thatch was trying to grab on to him. He imagined that if those flesh still had blood running under them, it'll be cut off by the strain of it.

* * *

Dr. Newgate was still in the very same position when Ace entered his room, Thatch floating - quite literally - behind him. The raven haired man shut the door behind him none too gently, face pulled into a stern expression that refused to falter even the blond man glared at him, "You again? I told you i don't— where are you going?"

Ace ignored him as he stomped over into the bathroom just near the entrance door, snatched the one thing he found out from Sabo's room would be placed underneath the sink and filled it to the brim with water. He exited the bathroom a bit more carefully on account of the item in his hand and the water inside of it, and ignored the doctor's confused stare. Once he was sure the position was safe enough, Ace lifted his other hand, where he held a single stem of yellow chrysanthemum he had snagged from Koala's bouquets, and placed it inside to float. He then sat down with his arms and legs crossed, staring defiantly at Dr. Newgate, daring him to protest and comment.

Which he did, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Isn't it customary to bring flowers to a sick patient? Well, there, that's your flower. But you only get one, because you were an asshole,"

The look of confusion was still there, but it's slowly hiding behind the rising anger and impatience, "You're using a urinal bottle. As a vase,"

Ace scoffed, which only serve to irritate Dr. Newgate even more, "Well, i'd look for a better one, but i don't really like you so i'm not going to bother,"

Face red, Dr. Newgate gave an audible exhale, which kind of reminded Ace of his mother whenever she's trying from keep from yelling at people for their stupidity, or when she's getting ready to shout the house down because of her son or husband's antics. Apparently, he's professional enough to do the former, "If you dislike me so much, then why did you even come back? I already told you to leave,"

"Because," he glanced to the side, meeting the eyes of every deceased Newgate family member, all who were staring at him with either disbelief or while trying so hard not to laugh. Except Newgate Sr., because Ace couldn't really tell. He seems thoughtful, maybe even silently judging, but the stare he gave Ace wasn't one that made him uncomfortable, it was just one of a silent observation. He met those eyes levelly, and forced down the urge to nod when the man did in acknowledgement to him, "I need to be here,"

"Again, why? Nothing is keeping you here. I certainly don't want you here,"

The freckled man broke eye contact from Mr. Newgate to glare again at his son, "Well, good thing i'm not here for your sake then,"

"Then why?" Dr. Newgate's voice hitched at the end of his hissed out sentence, and though he tried his best to make the movement subtle, Ace caught him wincing and slipping a hand to his stomach. He did just get out of surgery yesterday, so it's probably best not to get riled up like this.

With a huff, Ace reach over for him and helped him ease down on to the bed, the way he had seen Koala do a couple of times for Sabo. He remembered her saying that it's because his body is in too much pain to move on their own, and a helping hand could ease the pressure. Or something like that, he doesn't usually deal with any injured person after he got them out of a burning building after all. When his hand first made contact with the doctor's body, he felt the man jolt, hand already twitching and darting towards him only to give another pained gasp. Ace used the opportunity to push him even further down, until Dr. Newgate was fully lying on his back, "If you wanna sit up and stuff, shouldn't you be using the remote on the bed to had it up instead of moving around? I thought a doctor would at least know that,"

"Shut it," the words may be harsh, but the man was too preoccupied by his pain to actually put the bite into his tone. He grunted again, eyes squeezed shut.

Ace was becoming slightly worried, and he saw Jiru rushing over to the bed, the boney and melted appendage that was his hand. From what Ace was told, he had been a paramedic in this hospital right before his untimely death, "Do— do you want me to call a nurse? Or some other doctor? Did your uh, stitches open up or something—"

"No, don't call anyone, just," he cut himself off with a deep breath, "It's probably nothing,"

"I wouldn't say it's nothing, but it's nothing major. He just pulled on the stitches," Jiru told him from the other side of the best, and Ace is trying his best not to look at his general direction for discretion sake, and also because he might be wrong, but he swore he just saw the spectre shoving his hand _inside of his brother's stomach_ from the side, which is probably what he's doing to be able to see the problem. That sounds mighty convenient, if not a little sickening to think about, "But please, don't rile him up like that. They might actually tear next time,"

"Sorry,"

Dr. Newgate rose his brows at him, and gave a little sigh, "No, it's… it's not your fault. I should've been more careful,"

"Huh? Oh, uh," Oh right, he must've thought Ace apology was to him, "Yeah, i guess,"

The room goes quiet once more. Dr. Newgate's breathing was still ragged but they're calming down significantly, and deciding that he already assisted as much as he could, Ace sat back down, leaning slightly towards the bed. It was broken by a tired sigh, "So you're really not leaving, then,"

Ace's grey orbs flickered upwards, to meet Dr. Newgate's own blue ones, "Do you really want to be left alone that badly, or is it because it's me?"

He actually expected the reply to come swiftly, but that's not the case. Dr. Newgate stared at him for a while - with the kind of expression not unlike the one his father gave Ace, unbeknownst to him - before he shifted his gaze away, "Do whatever you want,"

Somewhere in the room, someone gave a loud, relieved sigh.

* * *

**Did i go too fast, too slow, i mean, they started talking on chapter 4, surely there's a rule against that? Or something. Just let me know, please. **

**But at any rate, thank you so much for reading and hope you liked it! **


	5. Chapter 5

This is what Ace's next 5 visits to the hospital is like, in the span of 5 days:

He'd arrive at the evening, discreetly waving to the little ghost girl who loves flowers by the door every time on his way over to Sabo's room, where Koala would always be before except the one day where she had to work late and his mother and Luffy were there instead. Despite still being in pain, Sabo had looked more active these days, capable of talking and waving animatedly throughout the conversation with Rouge, or joining Luffy in cheering and jeering at the television over some animated show.

About half an hour to his arrival, more people will come. Ace's father or Luffy's grandfather are the most likely to come by, then sometimes it's Ivankov, the head of Mayor Dragon's PR team and a close friend, or Hack, one of Sabo's co-workers in the town hall, or just anyone who knew him. Dragon himself hadn't been able to come, but he called once at least, sounding tired despite the stoic front. It's hard to think that he won't be, with the news about the fire still being one of the biggest topic in their local news and the town on high alert over the arson once more, which means he'd have plenty in his hand right now. It didn't help that his assistant is hospitalized, but to his credit, Dragon would often assure Sabo he'd manage.

Another half an hour will be spent talking in between themselves about just any topic that the variety of visitors could come up with, and all of them will steer away from any mention of the fire itself. It left a bad taste remembering Sabo almost _died _because of it, Ace was not allowed to talk about it with the investigation still ongoing, and there is really no need to bring down the lighthearted mood they all so dearly needed right now.

It's all just about the same as every visit before, only one detail has changed these past 3 days.

The moment the clock shows that he had been there for an hour, Ace would excuse himself, discreetly plucking away a single flower from the various bouquets Sabo would get, and leave. Then, he'd make his way out of the occasionally crowded hall, to another, even quieter one on a different floor, towards Dr. Newgate's room_._ This one was just as jam packed with faithful visitors for the patient, only this time around Ace was the only person who was able to see them.

He'd greet them with a casual 'good evening', and for any outsiders looking, it'll look like he's only addressing the one man on the bed, the only living being in this entire room until his arrival.

All 5 days, he won't receive a reply, and after the 2nd day, he stopped waiting for one.

Ace would then sit down in what he now dubbed his personal chair by the bed, flower still in hand.

The first 3 days, the raven haired man would always come in to see it gone, perhaps removed by the nurses, and he'd replace it each time. Yesterday, he was surprised by the sight of the flower from the previous day and it's horrid excuse of a vase still on the bedside table, the water inside of it having gained a greenish tint to show that nothing has been changed about it since the day before. If Dr. Newgate notices his surprise, he didn't comment, just like he didn't say a single word to Ace aside from the very first day he came.

On the 4th day, while staring in confusion over the sight of the flower, Jozu Newgate leaned on the wall beside the table, a minuscule amused smile on his stoic, mostly burned face, "He told the nurse not to throw it away, said that it's not someone's idea of a prank but that the person who did it is kind of stupid," Ace was told in earnest, and someplace behind him, he heard a couple of people snickering, "I think he actually likes the flowers,"

Ace gave Dr. Newgate a dumbfounded look - and maybe a slightly irritated one because, really, insulting someone being nice to you behind their back? Classy - and placed the new flower right next to the one from dark red caranation's petals clashed with the blue and yellow shade of the morning glory, both bobbing gently against the rim before going still, leaning against each other.

With that out of the way, Ace sat back down on the chair, and would proceed to do so in silence for the next hour or so. There would be no conversation, not one between him and Dr. Newgate anyway, not a single gesture, nothing. Sometimes he felt like he's staring at a statue, if not for little twitches and the obviously breathing chest. If he tried to initiate any conversation, he'd just be ignored, as is the case for the first 2 days, so he'd just fill his time with either the television or playing with his phone.

After 2 hours of being completely disregarded, Ace would realize that it's getting late and he had an early shift. He'd stand up and gave the bed and its occupant one glance, and gave a murmured 'see ya tomorrow, doc', before leaving. That little bit about the flower was different, but in the end, nothing really change and he'd go home with a small wonder in the back of his mind on whether or not this weird routine actually has any bearing to Dr. Newgate and what his family had asked of Ace.

On the 6th day, Ace came in to Dr. Newgate's room to see that not only that the two flowers were still there, the water has been changed, clearly visible even through the opaque surface.

Ace sat down on his chair and carefully placed the handful he had brought with him that day: a whole bunch of carnations in myriad of colours.

He was in the middle of trying to fit the whole thing through the bottle's narrow rim, when he heard, for the first time in 5 days, Dr. Newgate spoke, "That's more than 1,"

The arrangement looked poor in the end, unlike how it was originally when he first acquired them, but then he didn't think even the best flower arranger can make flowers in a piss bottle look charming, "There's a sale in the florist near my work place and the old lady who runs it is really nice so i'm helping her out, really,"

It's not really a sale as much as it was Ace looking confused enough about the flower bouquets on the display for the lady to take pity on him, and when he had tried to pay, she gave him a special discount for 'his services to the town' and for 'being such a sweet and caring boyfriend'. He had been too stupefied by the out of nowhere conclusion to actually correct her because he's most definitely single, but at least he managed to stutter out a thank you before being pushed aside for another costumer.

"And you're not giving it to your friend instead?"

Sabo still got plenty of them and will probably continue to receive more in the future. Unlike this room, "You're the kind of shitty person who likes to complain about other people's great and generous gift, aren't you?"

Dr. Newgate glanced at the flowers, his expression much more mellow than Ace had ever seen him before, "And you must be the kind of person conceited enough to praise your own gift,"

Not that his words were any less jabbing.

When Ace left get something to drink from the vending machine nearby later on, he had just made his decision when Thatch showed up next to him, looking pleased and a little giddy, "He's been touching and staring at those flowers you gave him since you left. And he was smiling. Oh, Ace, i haven't seen him smile in such a long time, i'm so glad,"

There wasn't a way for Ace to actually know if the smiling part was the truth or not, because the moment he came back, he only caught sight of the doctor retracting his hand from somewhere near the flowers. He looked a little flustered when Ace asked, in genuine curiousity, "What are you doing?"

His question truly was in regards to the doctor's swiftly retracted hand, but he was just as curious as to why all of his siblings were crowding the bed, so much that only way Ace can truly caught sight of Dr. Newgate was through Blenheim's translucent body. Said man turned around with a large grin on his grey-blueish face and exclaimed joyously, "He was smiling! He was actually smiling! It's there, it's really there!" The rest of the Newgate siblings proclaimed the same, with their father letting out a happy rumbling laughter from his customary seat, as if this was the best thing that has ever happened to him.

Dr. Newgate himself stammered at his question, face a little flushed and possibly the most human and expressive he looked since Ace first saw him, "N-nothing. I just— one of the flower was drooping a little, so i'm trying to fix it,"

If only he knew he's been outed by so many people.

* * *

Day 7 saw another break in the routine, when Ace came to Dr. Newgate's room first, with a large bouquet of purple, pink and white peonies in a plastic vase.

"I thought i don't deserve a proper vase?"

"You don't, but the poor flowers deserve a better place to be in," Ace countered while transferring the camelia, morning glory, and the carnations over to their new home. The entire arrangement looks damn weird in his opinion, unlike the elegant and fancy ones he had seen before, but they'll do for now.

The blond man snorted, "You're the one who brings them and put them in a urinal bottle in the first place," he muttered, turning towards Ace and the bouquet. In a lower, softer voice, he said, "It's off season for peonies, they must've cost a lot,"

"But very appropriate," Izou said from the foot of Dr. Newgate's bed, lips curling teasingly, "When the flowers means healing. Ace, that is really thoughtful of you, bringing so many of them for Marco,"

Ace could feel his cheeks heating up, even though he knows for sure Dr. Newgate couldn't hear his brother's comment.

The truth was, that scene he had walked in on hadn't managed to quite leave his mind the entire night. Of the exuberant reaction from all of the Newgate siblings had because they saw their brother smile over some flowers, and the pure jubilance in Edward Newgate's laughter spoke of true joy, unlike the morose spirit he had seen a couple of days ago. He wondered just how bad Dr. Newgate was before all of this, if just the sight of a smile could make so many of them so happy.

When he visited the florist again this morning on his way here, Ace decided that he was curious. He wanted to see for himself to prove that he had actually done something in all of these seemingly nonsensical routine, and he supposed he wanted to something else out of the sad man he had been persuaded to look after.

He remembered a long time ago when his mother would bring him to her garden as a child, telling him that each flowers has their own meanings when you give them to someone. When the old florist had told him what the peonies stands for, he hadn't even hesitated in buying the entire thing. It had sounded so silly once he actually finished paying for them and was on his way here, and now, in face of Izou's grin, he wished he hadn't really bothered and just choose any other bouquet.

Turns out being exposed isn't really the most dignified feeling in the world. Even if the only one who could hear them was a bunch of invisible undead.

"L-like i told you, the florist's having a sale. What, you don't like them or something?"

Ace had expected another smart quip and retort like before, that the sight of a hand reaching over for the vase actually caught him off guard. He turned towards the owner, to find hooded eyes entirely focused on the colourful floral arrangement, "No," the doctor lifted his hand just enough to cup a single flower on his palm and Ace was rendered speechless when sure enough, a small yet obvious smile blooms on the man's lips, "They're beautiful,"

And just like that, suddenly everything that has happened in the last 7 days, the medicine room scare, the ghost following him around in the hospital, the scathing behaviour, the silence, being ignored, of deciding to stay in a room full of burnt, asphyxiated and even mutilated ghost, this cycle of just seemingly unfruitful endeavour…

…Maybe it's not that unfruitful after all.

"Um. W-well, good, cause you're right, they're not cheap," Ace quickly look away when the heat on his face grew even hotter and refused to simmer down. Well, he did think that Dr. Newgate is fairly good looking before all of this, but not only that, he supposed he's just… glad. Glad to see that beneath it all, maybe he had done something good.

Maybe.

Dr. Newgate didn't reply, simply humming absent-mindedly, his hand now reaching for the camelia to run them over the red petals. There's little wilts on the corner now, since these sorts of bouquets probably don't last long even kept in water, but he hardly seems to be bothered.

Ace's hand fidgeted on the morning glory's stem, feeling the silky petal against his own skin, "You know, the sale's probably going to last like uh, a while," he gulped, hoping it's not as audible as he thought it was, "If you like them that much, i can always bring more tomorrow,"

His answer was another hum, "If you want to,"

So Ace did, victoriously so.

* * *

"Okay, where exactly have you been going to?"

Ace stopped on his tracks and turn to where Sabo was watching him with narrowed, suspicious eyes, "Huh?"

Sabo frowned, "You've been leaving earlier than usual, i thought it's because you've gone home but yesterday, Luffy said he saw you in the parking lot 2 hours later when he and that directionally challenged friend of his got lost looking for his own car so you're definitely still in this hospital. Also," he gestured to the item Ace brought in his hand, "What's with the flowers? That's definitely not for me,"

Ugh, he had planned on going to Dr. Newgate's room first to give him these, but Koala had called and ask him to look after Sabo while she leaves to run a quick errand. Sabo was probably well enough at this point he didn't need someone watching over him 24/7, but it's best to be safe, "Aww, Sabo if you wanted one from me, you should just said so,"

"Quit the crap, stupid, and tell me what's going on,"

Ace huffed. Ugh, okay maybe he did owe his 'brother' an explanation for bailing out, "Okay, okay," he settled on the chair next to the bed, gently putting the flower down on the edge of the table. Today it's an entire mixture of pink, yellow, white and orange chrysanthemums, originally only white and yellow until the florist saw that it was him buying it and threw in some other colours as well, free from any extra charge. Good, romantic men are so hard to come by these days, according to her, and she would love to help him make a woman happy.

Never mind that he's not giving this to a woman but instead a sickly doctor who has some health and haunting problem. He should probably tell her one of these days if she kept cutting her own profits like this.

"Okay," he repeated again with a heavy sigh, "First of, you're not allowed to freak out about it because you asked first,"

For a split second, Sabo had looked concerned, until realization seem to have finally dawned on him and as expected, he turned pale and began to whimper, eyes darting from each corner of his room, "Oh god, this has something to do with ghost, isn't it? There's a ghost in this hospital, isn't there?"

Actually, there's a lot of them, 15 in just 1 room and not counting the few other ones he had seen throughout the day. Ace rolled his eyes when Sabo began shaking his head and mutter intelligibly, something along the lines of 'you're right, i regretted asking', "Look, do you remember your old doctor, Dr. Newgate? The one that suddenly got replaced by this current one you got?"

The blond stopped his cowering, expression turning thoughtful, "Yeah, i wonder what happened to him. Not that i got a problem with my new one, but i liked Dr. Newgate, he's efficient and really to the point about stuff. Apparently he got sick?"

"He fainted in one of the hospital's staff only area and apparently has a hole in his stomach that needed to be operated on, i don't really know the detail. I was the one who found him," Ace bit his lower lips, bracing himself for whatever bombastic response he is sure to get, "With a help from his brothers' ghosts,"

As if on cue, Sabo's expression went back to pure fear, "Gho— What do you mean his brothers' ghosts? Ghosts?! Like plural?! Oh my god, my doctor is haunted this entire time please, please, please don't tell me those ghost has been coming into my room. Don't tell me there's one here right now!"

"No, there's none," Yes there are, past and present, in the form of the old patient from before, once again sitting on the sofa. Like before, he seems to find deep amusement in Sabo's panic, and unlike before, instead of walking away, he limps over to the bed, and stood right behind Sabo like the joker Ace had suspected him to be. The raven haired man tried so hard not to pay any attention to him as not to reveal his own lies, but it's kind of hard to do so, when the old man started making faces behind his terrified friend's head.

Okay, that's a little funny, maybe it'll be funnier if Ace wasn't being choked right now.

"Are you sure?!"

"Damn, Sabo, do you want to know what i was doing or not?" he raised his volume a little and struggle a bit more than he needs to to shake off his friend's hand, if only because he also needs the distraction to keep from laughing when the old ghost leaned his face next to Sabo's, eyeballs abnormally rolling to the side pointedly to the blond, "Look, do you remember that case of the Newgate Arson 5 years ago?"

The grip on his collar slackened, and while the change of topic doesn't calm Sabo down completely, he could at least give a reply, "Y-yeah, who didn't. Auntie Rouge was freaking out when you applied to be a firefighter 3 years after that, and— wait, Newgate Arson… Dr. Newgate… Wait, is he—"

"Yep. Apparently the only surviving one. And the ghosts following him were the ones who died on that fire, including Edward Newgate himself,"

"Oh shit," the fairer of the two gasped, most of his colours having returned to his skin. The old ghost next to him was done making fun of him as well, seemingly preoccupied with listening to their conversation, "Wait, i did hear that they eventually found out someone did survive, but there weren't any follow ups on that or who it was. And that person is actually Dr. Newgate?" he frowned, "Kind of weird no one made the connection when he still uses that surname,"

Ace shrugged, "People on this hospital definitely knows; my buddy's surgeon boyfriend that works here said people's been keeping his identity a hush-hush around here under the dean's orders, while outside… i don't know, you probably won't attach just any surname to any major incident,"

"I guess, but i wonder why the news outlets didn't put any r— Wait, so that's where you're going this entire time? To see Dr. Newgate?"

Somehow, the fact that Sabo can reach that conclusion on his own without needing Ace to explain it and inevitably mentions ghosts again gave him a greater relief than possibly warranted. For one, he won't have to explain the weird request he was given by the family, the entire reason he was doing all of this, because as bizarre as the whole situation was, it also felt rather… sad, and private. He won't be able to mention the request without also mentioning Dr. Newgate's condition and Ace didn't think that's something he needs to tell people, even if it's Sabo he's talking to.

The second reason is that there is a slim chance Sabo will freak out and possibly choke him again, "Yeah, i kinda just.. want to see if he's okay,"

"Oh," blue eyes flickered towards the flowers in understanding, and Sabo grumbled, "Ugh, could've just told me that instead of having to say stuff about the g-ghosts. Oh god, how many times did he came in here bringing ghosts with him? Is that why i sometimes felt chilly whenever he comes around? Is that the ghost?" he began to tremble and shake on his own, cautiously looking around as if he'd so happen to be able to see what Ace can see. Which he can't or else he'd be much more freaked out when he made eye contact with the old patient ghost.

"If it's any comfort, they left when he does. They're only interested in following him around instead of doing anything diabolical to scaredy cats,"

"I'm not a scaredy cat, i just don't like thinking about anything supernatural, okay?!"

Stifling his snickers - though not by much - Ace stood up and picked his flowers up again, "Yeah, yeah. I'll be on my way now, i'll come back later, okay?"

"Yeah. Hey, give my regards to Dr. Newgate, will you? Tell him to get better soon,"

He nodded, fixing one of the bent petals, "Sure, Sab',"

"Give the good doctor and Mr. Newgate Sr. my regards too, young man,"

The raven haired man lifted his eyes and nodded to the old ghost, "Sure thing, sir,"

"Ace…,"

It took Ace exactly 2 seconds to realize what exactly he had done, the exact time it took for Sabo's eyes to go wide and he turned in pure terror to the direction Ace was talking to.

"Oh, fuck,"

* * *

"I thought i heard screaming earlier. Did something happen?"

Ace gulped, still busying himself with the vase of flower medley and the new batch he has with him. Damn, it even reaches up here? "Yeaaaah, you could say that,"

(Koala had been absolutely unamused to come back and see her boyfriend has turned into a crying and sobbing mess, clinging on to her like her namesake would a tree while muttering about ghosts and wanting to go home. The former had caused the attending doctor to worry about his mental health, so Ace had to lie to make sure his best friend won't be given a psychiatric evaluation, and said that he simply had a bad dream. Thankfully the doctor had believed him and let it go, but Koala had received the entire story and was even less impressed.

"Ugh, i can never understand you two. How is it that a guy who is easily scared out of his wits when it comes to ghost came to be best friends with someone who can see them?"

"…Opposite attracts?")

Dr. Newgate frowned at his answer, "Was it an emergency?"

"Not really, it's just uh, an incident from a patient," once he was finally sure that the flowers looked just right, Ace took a step back to admire his handiwork. Yesterday, he had mixed the single red camelia with a bouquet of anemone, while the morning glory had joined in with an assortment of snapdragon and the two stems of peace lilies. Today, he placed the chrysanthemums in the middle with the carnations, just a little behind of the peonies, and all of them were placed just close enough to the bed that Dr. Newgate can admire them, "What do you think? Looks good, don't they?"

"I think you just moved one vase a centimetre to the left and just been playing around with the chrysanthemum's petals than actually doing any arranging,"

From somewhere behind him, Ace could hear someone snickering, and he flicked his gaze to the source to find Haruta and Namur giggling, "Well excuse me, Mr. Art Critic, i'll have you know that my mother is an expert in _ikebana _and i've learned all i know from her. The smallest details are the most important—"

The clicking sound from the door latch disturbed Ace's justification, something he didn't think he'd expected to hear in this room because no one aside from himself ever visited and the rest of this room's 'occupants' hardly needs doors to come in. He turned to see a stern-faced old woman by the door, the lab coat swishing and the stethoscope around her neck dully thudding against her chest with every step she took. In her hand was a familiar, hospital logo emblazoned clipboard, one she brandished out once she's close enough to the bed.

"Time for your medicine and daily exam, brat," the doctor called out gruffly, with the sort of worn-out voice only old people could manage yet with the sort of authority and power from people a 1/4 of her age. From her pocket, she fished out a familiar looking brown bottle that Ace had seen a couple of times was brought to Sabo by nurses and doctors, which she then carelessly tossed towards Dr. Newgate. It plopped onto the bed with a clatter from its content.

The bed made a weak creak as Dr. Newgate shifted position to grab for the bottle, "Not that i'm complaining, but what happened to Dr. Hiluluk? He's the one responsible for me," he questioned as he reached for the lid, before frowning at the label, "This isn't the PPI i was prescribed with,"

"What an astute observation," the woman, Dr. Kureha said drily, "To answer your first question, Crocus had me take over for your case. The reason why is my second answer, that idiot gave you a PPI when you need an H2 blocker instead for your peptic ulcers. I know you must've noticed, but how you had been taking them for a week straight without raising any question seriously baffles me," she tossed her clipboard on the bed, leaning even closer to the bed with a grim look on her face, "Or is it true that you just don't care anymore?"

It reaction was minuscule, yet Ace caught that split second Dr. Newgate's breath hitched, "I just didn't notice,"

"And yet you clearly realized you've been taking PPIs. Don't you dare skirt around the subject, boy. I need to know whether or not mine and Crocus' goodwill were misplaced on you, because if they are, there are dozens of people every day we could've use our resources and efforts to keep alive rather than wasting our time on one who didn't,"

Around the bottle, Dr. Newgate's hand slowly turned white from how hard he was holding on to it. At the first telltale crack, Ace almost missed it completely over the voices of the Newgate siblings angry shouts towards elderly Dr. Kureha, none which will truly reach her. Haruta took Ace's attention in particular, when he ran towards the bed and leaped on to it, positioning himself right between his brother and the white haired doctor and screamed, "What kind of fucking doctor are you?! How dare you say that to my brother!"

"I…," the sickly blond trailed off, his grip on the bottle hardly loosening, "Maybe you are,"

"Marco!"

"Just like that, just that easily?" the disgust in Dr. Kureha's voice was palpable, even without the sneer on her face, "Once upon a time, you were one of our best. You had a purpose, you had a vision, you were your father's pride and joy. Where has it all gone to? No Newgate i know would ever be this pathetic human being i see in front of me right now. Edward must be rolling in his grave right now if he ever sees you like this,"

Haruta swiped at her, again and again and again, as if the harder he flung his arms the more chance it'll suddenly grow corporeal and manage to hit her. It never did, "Shut up, fuck you! Don't you dare mention Pops! Ace, make her leave! Make her leave Marco alone!"

The cacophony following Haruta's demand was deafening. From every corner of the room, every single one of Dr. Newgate's brothers' visage had turned enraged, shouting their own defences to their brother, all which eventually would fall to deaf ears. That she doesn't understand what their brother had gone through, that their brother has suffered enough, just how plain cruel it is to rub it in on his face like this, so on and so forth, and yet only one of them had kept quiet from the start.

Edward Newgate looked down to the floor, lips pursed and eyes grim.

He lifted his head just enough to look at the bed, to his only living son, when he said, "Isn't it a good thing then that Pops is gone, so he won't have to look at me at my lowest?"

"That's enough!"

To which of the two doctor he is saying it to, Ace didn't think he himself actually knows. But he couldn't stand this conversation anymore. Not when from he stood, he could clearly see the pain that seems to stab through Newgate Sr. harder than whatever it is that put that hole on his chest, the blow which, this time, had come from his own son. He hated that after that smile days ago, he has to see that resentful look back on Dr. Newgate's face, along with what he now recognized as self-loathing.

He's not naive enough to believe that just because he managed to do a single happy gesture, everything was alright for Dr. Newgate, but it felt like such a setback.

Dr. Kureha turned her attention to him, one brow raised inquisitively, "And who might you be?" her eyes flicked to the side and with a hum, she nodded, "I get it, you're the 'piss bottle flower guy' the nurses were gossiping about,"

"T-the… piss bottle flower…," Of all the goddamn nicknames to be called by strangers… And of all the moments where he earned a nickname, it has to be the one time he decided to be petty.

"Don't be too sad, kid. The flower in a urinal bottle thing was the easiest thing to describe you with. The actual gossip lies in the fact that you're Dr. Marco Newgate's visitor," she sneered once more, glancing ever so slightly towards the bed, "He never has visitors. Not when he has pushed away every single person in his life," her every words were emphasised, spitted out like venom.

On the bed, Dr. Newgate has gone silent.

With a war cry, Haruta lunged for Dr. Kureha, only to pass by her and fell on to the floor in a grunting heap. Ace ignored it, as he tried to ignore him swinging at her again and spoke, "What the hell? What kind of doctor goes around insulting their patient?"

"I am more than just a doctor," she sniffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "I'm a friend of his father's, and i won't stand by watching his son ruin himself the way he's doing right now,"

"And what makes you think Edward Newgate would like what you're going right now?!"

The old woman took a deep breath. Behind her, Ace could see that Namur had ushered Haruta away and towards the sofa, holding him back from struggling away, while Newgate Sr. still sat silently, watching Ace and Dr. Kureha with weathered, old eyes. They didn't seem to hold his attention long, when he shifted his gaze again and Ace knew he's back to watching his son.

"Edward wouldn't like it, no," Dr. Kureha spoke at last, yet unlike her strong, biting tone from earlier, her voice wavered, only a pale imitation to the intensity it has before. Her eyes were completely dry, but if Ace hadn't been looking at them, he would've thought she's on the brink of tears, "But he's always the kind of father who wouldn't dare even scold his children for the littlest of things. Wouldn't you say that he'd appreciate it more to know someone still cares enough for one of his beloved children to be frustrated at their life choices?"

With a shaky exhale, the old doctor ran a hand through her hair, and turned towards the bed, "I wrote down the dosage, as for the rest, i'm sure you know what to do. I'll be back tomorrow with your blood test result," At Dr. Newgate's silence, she gave Ace a terse nod and walked out, swiftly and as quietly as she arrived.

The moment the door closes behind her, the atmosphere in the room was thick enough that Ace actually felt physically suffocated by it.

"You knew my father's name,"

Ace would be lying if he wasn't a little startled by Dr. Newgate's voice, and even more so by the stare levelled at him. They're exhausted and dull, and that monotone voice he used was the very same one from the first day Ace stepped foot into this room. Nothing like the friendlier one he had finally adapted as of the late, the one that held more life to them, that regarded Ace as another person rather than the nuisance he would proceed to ignore for days in hopes he'll disappear.

His chest hurts. He didn't know why this regression hurts so much to see.

"I… i do," the raven haired male admitted, as he involuntarily glanced to where said father sat, "I, uh, i found out, eventually,"

"Was that _why_ you're here?" Dr. Newgate muttered, his voice barely a whisper and yet Ace heard the tenseness still. He squeezed his eyes shut, "Never mind, don't answer that,"

"Wait, i.. i can explain—"

"Don't," it was barely a whisper, yet it was enough to stop Ace on his tracks. Enough to make his chest tighten when Dr. Newgate spoke again, in the same whispered voice, "Please leave,"

"But—"

"Please," the blond opened his eyes to reveal blue eyes swimming behind unshed tears, "I just want to be alone right now,"

So Ace did, in reluctance and heavy heart.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Oh, mister! You're here again!"

Ace had been wary of any ghost seeking him out the moment he stepped on to the front entrance of the hospital that day, and it was with a hardly stifled sigh of relief did he see that the first one to greet him was the little girl that always stayed by the front door. He could visibly see her intestines jiggling from inside of her gut as she bounded over cheerfully to approach him, "I haven't seen you for 3 days! Oh, you got more flowers!"

Like before, he picked up one of the flowers from his entire handful, and offered it to her, which was received enthusiastically, "Yeah, i've been… busy,"

Busy thinking coming up with excuses for not visiting, when really he's just been wary of any familiar looking ghosts approaching him and pulling him back to_ that room_. Busy wondering if his last interaction with Dr. Newgate means he is no longer welcomed, and if he should come and fix whatever misunderstanding had come up last time and if he were to do so, how exactly is he supposed to explain it.

Busy balancing a tumultuous conflicting emotion, mostly annoyance and feeling insulted by the dismissal, yet at the same time, he knows he couldn't just leave things the way it is now.

It's been a fairly busy 3 days.

"I hope you're not busy again, mister, i always looked forward to seeing you," the girl chirped bashfully, and glanced towards something out of Ace's line of sight, somewhere deeper inside of the building, "And i'm not the only one, that nice man had been waiting for you here too,"

He had been expecting Thatch or Haruta, the first ones who came and asked for his assistance, or any other one of Dr. Newgate's brothers, those who had been overjoyed by his agreement to help and had expressed various objections the last time he left following Dr. Newgate's dismissal. When Ace trailed his gaze upwards, he absolutely did not expect the large form of Edward Newgate himself to be standing tall at the very end of the pristine and empty hallway, arms stiffly by his side.

The old man lifted his head, his eyes, even in their pearlescent state, seems to pierce deeply into Ace's soul.

A soft 'oh' escaped Ace, his hand unconsciously tightening around the smaller than usual bouquet of flowers.

* * *

"The flowers you brought has wilted,"

The walk from the entrance hall to his destination, while hardly far away, felt like it might take centuries due to the sheer tension Ace felt weighing down his shoulder. He walked side by side with Mr. Newgate, falling on to the ghost's pace while wondering that if people kept looking at his direction because the entire world somehow gain the same ability as his, or that he looked just as awkward and nervous as he felt on the inside.

Ace loosened his grip on the flower stems, after the initial sound of a voice close to him made him tightened his hold enough to hear one of it crack under pressure, "O-oh. I… i see," he murmured, and after a while, spoke again, softer, "He kept them?"

From his periphery, he could see Mr. Newgate nod, "He has no reason to throw them away, does he?"

Ace was under the impression that Dr. Newgate would, especially with the way he looked at Ace last, that near contempt washed away by exhaustion, just like the very first day they met, for whatever and however it is that he thought Ace had wronged him. If the problem had lied with Ace.

He doesn't even know anymore. He spent 3 frustrating days trying to figure out what went wrong, until he figured that coming back was the only way to find out.

"Mr. Newgate," perhaps it's because they're already talking anyway, that made it easier for Ace to finally open his mouth, allowing him to finally say out loud what had burdened him since the first time he saw the old man, "I'm sorry. For bringing up your name last time and upsetting your son,"

Next to him, the man chuckled lightly, shaking his head. From where Ace stood, he could only see the side of Mr. Newgate's face that's completely burned off, his eyelid unable to cover a fraction of his eyeballs when he closed them, leaving a hint of white over the expanse of ashen black, "Don't apologize. If anything, i am sorry you were caught in the crossfire between Kureha and Marco. She's the kind of person who doesn't believe in sugarcoating things, and Marco had always been too stubborn for his own good,"

Yeah, Dr. Newgate seems to be that sort of person, if the 5 days worth of silent treatment was any indication.

He wonders what that says about him, when he kept coming back in those 5 days.

They finally arrived on the door, when Ace's hand faltered over the door handle. Mr. Newgate paused on his way through the door, and glanced at him questioningly, "I wonder if Dr. Newgate even wanted me to come back at all," the raven haired male whispered, looking down to the bouquet in his hand. Two of the blowers bent down in a rather awkward position, probably the ones which stem he accidentally cracked earlier, "He doesn't seem… happy with me last time,"

"He does,"

It was said with such conviction that instantly, Ace had to ask, "How are you so sure?"

The old ghost gave a little chuckle, sounding both amused and fond, as if Ace's question, one that he had been asking himself for 3 whole days, was silly, "My boy, i have been these children's father for decades, even since they were barely out of diapers for at least half of them. Call me a silly old man, but sometimes i swear i can telepathically sense what's going on with my boys, down to what they're feeling or what sort of mischief they're up to," he chuckled proudly, somewhat reminding Ace of his own father whenever Ace did something good.

Mr. Newgate's smile suddenly faded, his lips pressed thin and his eyebrows furrowed together. Yet just from those little changes on his face, it felt as if the entire atmosphere changes, enveloped in a sudden, palpable gloom, "But i don't need to be some telepath to know that for the past 5 years, Marco was miserable. My dear son hadn't even crack a genuine smile for the last 5 years, he hadn't felt joy since our passing, and it hurts to see that. It hurts to see how much my own boy has to suffer because of his family's passing,"

He sighed, one large hand reaching over and barely went through Ace's shoulder. So closely, the raven haired man could see how it's ever so slightly shaking, "Ace, my boy, somehow, you change that. Even for a few seconds, you managed to put a smile on his face. There's a heavy, dark clouds over his head, and yet since your arrival in our lives - in _his_ life - i can see it slowly fading. I've been watching him hopelessly these past 5 years, and you gave not only Marco," his other hand reached up, placed over the hole on his chest, "but this old man the courage to hope again,"

Mr. Newgate smiled kindly, a jagged, grotesque sight that Ace was sure once upon a time was kind and fatherly, before the fire that took his life took half of his face in his death, "We have not spoken privately, just the two of us, but now that i have the chance to, please allow me to say this. Thank you, Ace, from the depths of this old, unbeating heart, thank you for coming into our lives,"

Under the harsh glare of the hospital lights, Ace felt his chest stutter at the sight of the unshed tear on Mr. Newgate's one good eye, and became rather painfully aware of the tightness in his throat and the sting that begins to enter his eyes. He took a deep shaky breath, averting his eyes away from Mr. Newgate, irrationally fearing that if he gazed on to those kind, hopeful and genuinely grateful gaze, he might combust.

All of his life, this ability to see ghost was something that separate him from his peers and scaring even those who knows and cares for him regardless. He had to hid it away, accept the fact that he's going to be different no matter what, and while he had come to accept it in his adult life, he remembered resenting it for as long as he could remember having it.

Never, not once in his life had he ever been thanked for it.

In the end, he only nodded awkwardly.

With a chuckle, withdrew his hand away, "As for your question, don't you worry about it, Ace," he approached the door, giving the young man one last glance, "Besides, I told you that he kept your flowers, didn't i?" Without any other words, the old man phased through the door, leaving Ace truly alone in the quiet corridor.

With one last look at the flower in his hand, the young man took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

Upon his entry, the reaction was slightly delayed yet simultaneous; As Mr. Newgate returned to his usual spot, most of his children suddenly straightened up at the sight of him, eyes wide and gaping mouth turned into exuberant, relieved smiles. It made Ace feel extremely flattered, seeing so many people so happy with his arrival that he faltered and felt his face growing hot at the attention, especially when Haruta leapt over the bed and rushed towards him to pull him into an embrace.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," the brunet chirped happily, causing a smile to grow on Ace's lips. He lifted his empty hand, wanting to reach over when he caught sight of the figure on the bed.

Dr. Newgate was staring at him, mouth pulled into a frown.

Ace dropped his hand from hovering over Haruta, "H-hi,"

No reply. Just a bland, if rather unwelcoming stare.

Like how it was before, even if Dr. Newgate doesn't look away once he recognize who his visitor is.

The younger man tried to mask the pang in his chest, but from the pitying look Haruta gave him, he didn't think it worked all that well.

Taking in a deep breath, he strode inside, very aware of the purple arrangement in his hold when he caught sight of the wilting, sorry sight on the bedside table. Most of the flowers had dried out, their once fresh petals turning into the frail and dried imitation of their previous vibrant selves, some of it even falling down over the table's surface. When he walked closer, Ace could see that the water inside of the vase had gotten murky, as if they hadn't been changed since he last came here.

Gingerly, he place the new bunch on the edge of the table, before picking the vase over and carrying them towards the trash can on the far side of the room. He opened the lid and threw the entire wilted ensemble away, hearing the muted whisper from Jiru who stood next to him, "He's watching you,"

He didn't tell the twisted-armed ghost that he knew. Ace didn't even have to turn around, he could feel the weight of it on his back.

Once he was finished throwing out and filling the vase with fresh water, Ace made his way back to Dr. Newgate's bedside table, putting the vase roughly where it was before and unwrapping the stems before depositing the flowers to the plastic container. They bobbed gently before settling against each other, at which point Ace had taken resident again in his usual chair, feeling like he had return home.

Not really. Home wasn't this suffocating and nerve-wrecking.

Minutes pass without anyone speaking, not even any of the deceased Newgates, who would usually try to fill the silence with their own chatters. All eyes were upon him, upon them.

It came to the point that he couldn't stand in anymore, when Ace cleared his throat and decided to speak up, "Look, i—" and fell silent again, because no, he still doesn't know what to say. At least Dr. Newgate hadn't told him to get out again, so maybe his father was right about one thing.

Maybe.

The dark haired man cleared his throat again, "I—"

"Purple Hyacinth," Dr. Newgate's voice was croaky and barely a whisper, but even that was enough to silence Ace, "Deep regret and asking for forgiveness,"

Ace swallowed harshly, suddenly feeling off balance. Shit, he didn't think the doctor would notice or even know about it, "Like i said, my mom's big in flower arranging and, well, flowers in general and she taught me about it when i was a kid. I just.. it was subconscious, probably,"

"Mixed colours carnations; health and energy. Peonies; healing. Anemone; fragility, but also well wishes for health. Yellow snapdragons, good luck. Peace Lily; rebirth, renewal. It was a coincidence the first time, but later, it felt like it was deliberate,"

"Okay, so i just want to be thoughtful," the younger man could feel his face heating up. The sound of little muffled laughs around the room and that one small 'aww' from someone doesn't help at all, "I didn't think you would notice. Or even know about this sort of things,"

Unexpectedly, a small smile made it's way to Dr. Newgate's face. It was pained and bitter, but there's a hint of fondness in them as he gaze towards the new bouquet of flower on his side, "One of my brothers was a florist who loves talking about how flowers has meanings. He always says the rest of us were uncouth for not knowing about it, but i think he just wishes someone would understand what he's talking about, so i tried learning about it for him," he spoke softly, and the little choke at the end it didn't miss Ace's hearing.

He could also see Izou raising both of his hands to his lips from the other side of the room, staring adoringly and sadly at his living brother, "Oh, Marco. You were listening to all of my ramblings?" From his side, Thatch pulled him by his shoulder, rubbing his translucent hand on Izou's arm in a calming, sympathetic gesture.

"…Yeah," Ace shifted his gaze away, hunching and slightly curling into himself, "I'm sorry, for hiding the fact that i know who you are. But whatever it is that you're thinking, you're wrong. It has nothing to do with me being here,"

No, he thought, glancing around the room and taking in the sight of each and every phantom in the room, he's pretty sure his reason for coming here would never cross Dr. Newgate's mind.

"What is it then? Why all of this? Why did you keep coming back?" There was it again, that edge in the blond's voice, defensive and disdainful, "Was it pity? Because i don't need it. I—"

"Because this room was empty for days,"

Dr. Newgate fell silent.

Ace huffed, looking down to his lap - purposefully avoiding Dr. Newgate's stare - as he continued, "This room was just… empty. There's no visitors, no sounds, not even flowers or gifts, just plain white walls and closed curtains. And you," he added while glancing up, meeting the blonde's severe frown, "I came back to Sabo's room after that first time i came here," That first time he was told to leave, "And there was such a big difference that i felt suffocated by it. There's colourful flowers and little gifts from his colleagues on his bedside, i see his girlfriend lovingly helping him with every little thing he needed, my rowdy family making all sorts of small talks and joking around, i ate my mother's homemade cookies for Sabo and it's just… it's so unfair,"

Something flashes across Dr. Newgate's expression, an emotion the man so quickly repressed Ace didn't have time to truly discern what it was. He heard the doctor took in a deep, shaky breath before he looked away, and spoke, "So it really is pity then. I already told you that i have no need for that, so if that's why you're here, then just leav—"

"Maybe i never know loss like you and i hope i never will, but if there's anything i could relate to you, is that i know what it's like wanting to be left alone," Dr. Newgate fell silent once more, glancing sideways to Ace. He looked exasperated that Ace was still talking, but at least he didn't try to stop him, "Obviously, we both got different reasons for it. You're dealing with the pain of loss, and me, i just hate how different i was. But at the core of it, i know what it's like thinking that isolating yourself from the world was for the best,"

He lowered his head to see his hand's tightened grip on his pants' material, "But the thing is, i was lucky enough to be surrounded by people who'd pull me out of this safe little bubble i place myself in, telling me that they care and love me no matter what," that they _don't_ care about his ability, that he's still a good friend, still a beloved son, the _cool cousin who is even cooler now because he has a really cool ability_, and the thought of it unconsciously made Ace smile and his sight to slightly blur, "And because of it, i was never trapped in my own mind for too long because i know they would be there for me when things got too much. I mean, sure, there's only a couple of them, but i was lucky enough to have these couple of people who i love and love me back,"

Ah, there goes the first teardrop, staining the fabric of his pants. Ace lifted his other hand to wipe his eyes, sniffling and inwardly laughs to himself. His dad and Sabo would never let him live it down if they know he cried while talking about them, while his mom and Luffy would probably just pull him into a suffocating hug while cooing and aww-ing, as they're prone to do even on a normal day.

At the sound of a shuddering breath, Ace looked up, and saw that Dr. Newgate has looked away to the other direction from where Ace was, hiding his face away from him. He hadn't the chance to even say anything when the spectres around the room suddenly stood up, looks of concern etched across their faces. Haruta was the first one who rushed towards the bed, followed by Jozu and Vista, just as - who Ace perceived to be - the youngest of the Newgate siblings knelt next to the bed, "Marco, please don't cry. We still love you and we're still here for you," the brunet choked out, and though not for the first time witnessing this, it never stopped to caught Ace off guard to see that _ghost can cry, tears and all_, "So please don't cry. We're still here, you just can't see us anymore,"

Dr. Newgate didn't reply, of course. He didn't even know that he's being comforted.

And that, for Ace, is the biggest unfairness in all of this.

"So that's why… that's why i_ chose_ to be here," the raven watched every single Newgate family member from where he sat, taking in the sight of their devastated expression, of the sorrow, of the murmurs and declaration of love that will never be heard again and knew he never stayed because it was a request from a group of ghosts, a request he could've just refused in the first place and decided it was a lost cause after he was chased away the second time. It was because of the ghost themselves and this man they still love for even 5 years after their passing, who obviously couldn't let them go for just as long, a family ripped apart by mortality, "Because everyone deserve to have someone who still care,"

It's just so, so unfair.

"You're presumptuous," Dr. Newgate spat angrily, yet the effect was greatly diminished by the obvious shakiness in his voice. He still wouldn't look at Ace, but the hand on his side was shaking, "So you know what happened to my family, but you don't know _me. _Maybe i don't need anyone to—"

"Then why are you crying?"

He received no reply.

Slowly, Ace dragged his chair closer to the bed, and with the same gentleness he treated the hyacinths, the dark haired male took Dr. Newgate's hand in his. The hand jerked away briefly, yet Ace insistently held on, "Please don't tell me to leave again,"

The hand limps in his hold without any further resistance, still quivering.

* * *

Ace recalled that time in junior high, about a game that both he and Sabo were really into and spent all of their weekends together trying to finish it while closely following the walkthrough to unlock every secret. It was tiring yet rewarding, and in the matter of 2 weeks and several scolding from his mom for playing way past their bedtimes, they managed to reach 80% completion, missing only one missable item, a big source of pride for them until the day Luffy came over and accidentally deleted that saved game file.

In a funny way - not 'haha' funny, more of a forced one that he's got to think about as amusing or else, he'll get himself down - seeing Dr. Newgate not even acknowledging him when he came in sort of feel like that time too. It's the sort of reluctant acceptance that he has to start over from the beginning again, going through the same obstacles, only this isn't a video game with a guide, this is a real human that the only way Ace knew how to deal with was by persevering.

Gripping the bouquet of Azaleas tighter in his hand, Ace strode in, and called out, "Good evening, Dr. Newgate,"

The blond turned, but didn't return the greeting. The doctor's eyes went to the colourful arrangement on his hand, not leaving it until Ace placed them down on the vase, together with yesterday's hyacinths. Once he was satisfied with how it looked, the raven haired man took a seat on the lone chair, just as usual. On the other side of the room, Mr. Newgate was slumped over, dozing quietly, and the only voice in the room was Kingdew and Jiru talking quietly near the window, while the rest greeted Ace quitely before going back to idly standing around. There's a couple of the Newgates that are missing, and Thatch, once he saw Ace coming in, immediately set on to his side.

"Dr. Kureha came by earlier," the ghost said, and immediately, Ace felt himself tensing up, "Well, nothing happened. She gave him some new prescription, has some medical talk and left. No apologies for what she said or anything. Haruta was so angry about that that Jozu suggested they take him out for a walk and that we all needed one as well. He's got a point. We may be ghosts, but we can still feel kind of stir crazy being cooped up here,"

As not to alert Dr. Newgate, Ace gave a small nod. Next to him, Thatch gave a small laugh and spoke a little lower, "I know everything you said yesterday was for Marco, but i'm not gonna lie, that made all of us happy as well," he placed a hand on his shoulder, making a patting gesture even if Ace could only feel the cold air through, "Thank you, Ace. Really. And i know he's not saying it, but Marco appreciates that as well, he's just a bit embarrassed about everything,"

At this, Ace glanced upwards questioningly.

Thatch grinned, "Hey, i know my brother, okay? Look at what he's doing,"

Ace did, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Dr. Newgate was looking away from, even if it's not completely, one of his hand coming up to the lower part of his face. When he leaned over slightly, he could see that the blond was actually biting the fingernail on his thumb.

"It's a bad childhood habit he never managed to completely wean off. Marco only does that when he's nervous, feeling guilty, or the likes. It's how Pops and us figure out whenever he's lying or hiding something," the auburn haired man snickered, "And he's been doing it since you came in, which is pretty telling why he's feeling any of the sort,"

Blissfully unaware of the two pair of eyes watching him so closely, Dr. Newgate resumed on gnawing on his fingernails. After a while, he released his thumb long enough to mumble, volume too low to hear clearly, but the room was so quiet Ace can hear it all the same, "Thank you for the flower,"

Ace couldn't quite stifle the little laugh that escaped him.

Ah, maybe not from the very beginning then.

* * *

"I've been thinking, and i hope you don't mind me asking," Dr. Newgate spoke, breaking the silence that has grown less tense and more companionable in just a 3 days since Ace's return. At Ace's nod, he continued, "What do you mean when you said that 'you're different'?"

"Ah," was all Ace could say before he clamped up. Damn, he did say that, didn't he? Shit, why did he say that? Mr. Newgate already said he didn't want Dr. Newgate to know that his family was around him, and not only that, his ability to see ghost wasn't something he ever wanted to share with people, not anymore. And it's not like Dr. Newgate will even believe it, or if he did, what are the chances it's going to make him mad again. Or will he? What if he started asking if Ace could—

"I shouldn't have asked that, it's probably something personal," the words broke through Ace's reverie, and he looked up to see Dr. Newgate shaking his head and gave him an apologetic look. Subsequently, Ace noticed that his right hand twitched on his side, and wondered if he was trying to bite on his nails again, "My apologies,"

"No, it's okay," the younger dark haired man shook his head, feeling rather relieved.

Still, he thought, taking in the sight of Haruta lying next to his brother on the bed, right on the edge of it, and the rest of Dr. Newgate's siblings watching their brother vigilantly, he sort of wished he could tell the man, if only to tell him just how loved he still is. He wanted to tell him of their words and concerns, of what had initially brought Ace here and caused them to even have this conversation. It may be a good closure to Dr. Newgate as well, the kind of relieve that may be the key to his road in recovery.

In the following silence, Ace added, "One day. Maybe i'll tell you one day,"

"You're saying that as if implying that we'll be around each other for a long time,"

At that Ace grinned, because while he tried to mask it by looking away, he knows there's a smile on Dr. Newgate's face. Mostly it was by the help of Haruta jumping up and shrieking, 'He's smiling!', but somehow, Ace knew just from the fondness he knew he didn't just imagine in the man's words, "Well, i did get you all of these yellow flowers,"

Today's flower was an assortments of the bright coloured blossoms; yellow rose, yellow tulip, marigold, iris, and a smattering or freesias that the florist was all too happily wrapped in a beautiful arrangement complete with a nice new vase, free of charge. When this is all over, Ace really had to do something nice for the old lady, after all she's done.

Dr. Newgate glanced up to the new decoration on his bedside, tilting his head backwards enough to take in the entire sight, "I'm actually a little confused about this. Usually you brought the same type of flowers, not a whole bunch of them,"

"That's because it's not the individual flowers, it's the entire bouquet. Yellow flowers means friendship," at his explanation, Dr. Newgate gave a derivative snort, at which Ace took offense to, "Hey! It's a kind gesture!"

"Kind of like a child, yes,"

"Ungrateful bastard. Maybe i'll bring you a bunch of begonia next time,"

"'Beware'? Of what?"

"Of these hands if you keep being like this,"

* * *

Perhaps tired out by their bickering or his medication, Dr. Newgate fell asleep not soon after, suddenly slipping out of consciousness after delivering a couple of drowsy replies to Ace's playful jabs. With a suppressed sigh, Ace dragged his chair closer to the bed and leaned over, putting his elbow on the corner to put himself in a more relaxed position. Dr. Newgate did look tired, as if he hadn't been sleeping well, if the bags under his eyes were of any indication.

It entered Ace's mind that with his 'host' sleeping, maybe he should leave early, or leave to go to Sabo's room instead. He hadn't been visiting or 3 days now - feigning extra shifts with the fire station when really he's just wary of seeing any of Dr. Newgate's family - yet his butt kept rooted on the chair and instead of standing up, Ace laid his head on the bed, sighing.

He glanced to the arrangement of purple and yellow flowers.

"Yellow flowers also means joy and happiness," he mumbled to the bed, feeling equally drowsy despite the sterile chemical smell on sheets. Maybe he could get some shut eye as well before leaving, "And i hope you'll get that back one day, the way your family would want it,"

Ace fell asleep to the sound of Dr. Newgate's quiet snores and the quiet, rumbling laughter from around the room.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you liked it! **

* * *

_What's going on?_

_Everything felt heavy. He can't breathe. His limbs felt like they weight a ton each. Everything around him felt hot, too, too hot._

_What is happening?_

_…?_

_Someone's speaking… somewhere. They sounded near yet far away, gurgled like they're underwater. _

_"Wake— Get out of— Marc— Don't close—"_

_Pops… is that Pops..? _

_He has to see, has to figure out what's going on._

_…_

_….?_

_What is that loud bang just now…? _

_….?!_

_Someone is screaming in agony! What's— what's going on? _

_…Ugh._

_He's falling. It hurts, everything hurts, inside and out. _

_He's dizzy, he can't breathe. And it's too hot, so hot. Why is it so hot?_

_Ah._

_There's something pressed on his head. Too hot, way too hot. _

_…He can hears someone speaking again, a different voice, somewhere closer this time. Who is it? What is even going on? He swore it's all in the cusp of his memory, if he could even thinking clearly._

_Where had he heard of that voice before?_

_He's moving, something is dragging him away. What is…_

_He has to see, he has to—_

_…_

_…._

_…?!_

_…Pops…?_

_A terrified, horrified scream rang through the walls consumed by blazing inferno, cutting through the dark curtains of smoke. A sound that haunts his nightmares, accompanying that sight, the sight he would never forget even for a second in his life._

_It's the sound of his own scream._

* * *

"Hey, you,"

The bouquet of little green flowers bobbed in Ace's hand as he halted, wincing. Ah damn, he knows that voice, hardly even needing to turn around to spot the sway of long doctor's coat behind clicking heels and stern wrinkled eyes, "You're, uh, Dr. Kureha. What do you want?"

His tone came out a bit harsher than he intended, but today had been a good day for Ace and he'd hate it if anything or anyone ruins it. There's hardly any work for the station aside from that cat stuck on an elderly grandma's tree and a false alarm at the nearby all-you-can-eat buffet, a lot of free food from said buffet for inconveniencing them, he's let out early for once, and the traffic had been smooth all the way here. He might've even walked with a skip on his steps, if the way the ghost girl on the front step giggled at him was of any indication.

Until now, anyway.

The old doctor gave him a glare, which melted away in a fatigued sigh that actually made Ace felt kind of guilty and a bit worried, "Here for Marco again, are you?" Dr. Kureha's question sounded more like a statement, especially as she eyed the flowers in his hand, "Watch yourself around him today. He's had another episode, and i highly doubt he's in the mood for much,"

A snappy reply was on the tip of Ace's tongue - _she's_ telling _him_ to behave? - when her words fully registered in his mind, "What do you mean another episode?"

Instead of replying, the doctor kept walking, towards the direction Ace recognize to be where he's head as well. He jogged quickly to catch up with her long stride, slowing down just as they're right next to each other, "Nightmares," Dr. Kureha finally answered, after Ace belatedly realized they've entered a less public and crowded hallway, "Woke up the entire damn hospital, he did, screaming hysterically like he'd seen hell itself," a sardonic smile made its way to Dr. Kureha's face, so full of bitterness that it soured the insides of Ace's mouth as she spoke, "Or seen his entire family die in a night,"

That sounds a bit like an off coloured joke, but he's beginning to understand that's the sort of woman this doctor is, "Nightmares?" The younger echoed, frowning in concern.

"Not for the first time, nor it's is it a rare occurrence. Of course, the only way we know he even had them was because he had to stay here overnight a couple of times before this, but this is his first incident during this stay. And it's particularly nasty this time around too, we had to sedate him to get him to calm down,"

Ace bit his lower lips, eyeing the array of cheerful white and yellow colours in his hold, "Is it about the fire?"

Dr. Kureha doesn't reply to that. That on itself sounded like an answer.

The entire walk 2 stories up was filled with silence, up until they reached Dr. Newgate's door. Dr. Kureha stopped right in front of it, her hand reaching over for the door handle but stopping just as the tip of her finger touched the metal. She gave Ace one last lingering look before pushing the door widely, enough that Ace can follow right behind her.

Upon entering the room, the tension was palpable. Ace's usual visit was accompanied by soft murmured voices from the 15 constant ghost guests inhabiting the room, but today, there was nothing but silence. Each of the dead Newgate family member were gathered around the bed, staring worriedly at the still occupant in the middle of it. Kureha, oblivious to the visitors, marched right over towards her patient, but her stride was strangely subdued, even almost hesitant.

It's been a few days since the entire incident between Dr. Newgate and Dr. Kureha, and yesterday, Haruta was still raving mad about the older doctor about what she had said to his brother. Yet, today, even as the woman herself stepped right next to him - almost going through him, even - Haruta did nothing but moved aside quietly, an unnecessarily gesture that Ace realized ghost does as a reflexive behaviour brought from the time when they were alive.

Most did not look up for Dr. Kureha, but they did once Ace made himself known by walking closer, taking the space Thatch moved away from to give him room. In trepidation, he approached, his hand clutching the flower stems in his hand far too hard, resulting in several, audibly 'clacks'.

On the bed, Dr. Newgate had gained a death-like pallor, eyes far away as they stared on to the outside window. No words were exchanged between him and Dr. Kureha, even when she began to put on her stethoscope and gave him his regular check up. Only soft murmurs of instructions could be heard between them, and any question she came up with was either answered with a head shake or a simple nod. The entire process was short and mechanical.

Ace clamped his hand down again, and a particularly loud 'clack' finally reminded him of possible damage he has given the living plants in his hand. He cursed softly, making his way over to the bedside table all the while unwrapping the usual pretty paper the florist held the bouquet together with. Yet as he approached the table, the dark haired fireman began to notice that something was off, but couldn't quite figure out what it is. And he didn't think it's quite the time to ask for it either.

Not that he has to, when Dr. Newgate suddenly muttered, "I knocked the yellow ones off this morning. Sorry,"

Oh, right, the yellow arrangement from 2 days ago wasn't there, right where Ace left it on the side of the table. On it's place instead was an empty vase that used to host it, still fairly damp on the inside from the left over water.

After what he had been told earlier, it doesn't take Ace long to realize that Dr. Newgate probably managed to knock it off during his nightmare, if it's as violent as Dr. Kureha implies. The dark haired man shook his head, "Accidents happens, don't worry about it," he told Dr. Newgate, giving him a small grin, "I'll get them for you again tomorrow, how's that sound?"

Dr. Newgate twitched, which after a while, Ace understood was actually a shrug. Still grinning, he rolled his eyes as he made his way to the bathroom to get some water for the flowers. By now, Ace didn't need the rest of the doctor's sibling to tell him that his many presents were indeed appreciated, but it's still rather amusing to see the man trying to act like he barely cared, even after Ace caught him playing around with them on several occasions.

Well, he supposed he also had a great time doing this, thinking up just what other flowers he can bring and have Dr. Newgate guess what they mean, most that he got correctly but some he stumbled upon.

Which he did right away, once he returned and see that Dr. Kureha had walked away from where she was before, meticulously writing and reading from the clipboard attached to the foot of the bed. Most of Dr. Newgate's brothers had left the side of the bed to occupy their own corners as usual, except for Jiru who disturbingly poked his head out from Dr. Kureha's chest - rather uncannily resembling that sci-fi movie with the extraterrestrial being bursting out of the human chest - to read along on the clipboards. Several times he would either sigh in relief or cringe worriedly, and once he grimly frown, making Ace wander just what exactly is it that the doctor was writing.

Once he placed the vase down, he picked one of the smaller clump up, twirling it between his fingers right in front of Dr. Newgate's face. The blond blinked before reaching over to take it, then after a while, he gave a rather annoyed yet amused smile, small as it may be, "I think i remember seeing this before. Lady's mantle, wasn't it? I have no clue what it meant, but if yesterday's any indication, i'll say it's to mock me again,"

"Hey, those red poppies are my sign of sympathy for you for having to eat nothing but watered down cardboard. Those are even worse than what Sabo had to eat,"

"Sabo doesn't have to go through laparoscopy or is recovering from gastro perforation,"

"And what a small blessing it is, he's been complaining non-stop about his food since he's been admitted and if i had to listen to any of it again, i'll suffocate that child," Ace shook his head, lamenting how annoying his best friend could be at times. Still, he is one of the best people in his life and practically his brother in all but blood, so small sacrifices has to be made, "Well, he is being released in 3 days, so maybe i really won't have to. How about you? Recovering from surgery doesn't usually take this long, right? I know Gramps left the hospital the evening after having his appendicitis removed but my grandpa is not a good indication for any normal human being,"

Dr. Newgate doesn't immediately answer, instead glancing down to his front, where Ace just now realized Dr. Kureha had stopped writing on her clipboard - with Jiru's still poking out of her chest - and was intently watching them. He quickly averted his eyes from those sharp gaze when Dr. Newgate muttered, "Afraid that's not the only reason they're keeping me longer here,"

It took Ace a while to realize that reply wasn't directed at him.

With a haughty sniff, Dr. Kureha returned to her clipboard, this time writing even slower and sporadically. Helpfully, from the middle of her chest, Jiru looked up to him and exclaimed, "She's not even writing anything anymore,"

Ace blinked with a little nod, signalling that he kind of guessed that already, "Lady's mantle means comforting," He plucked the flower out of Dr. Newgate's hand, placing it along with its family. After a while, hesitantly, he added, "Mom told me once that they believe putting a lot of these in your pillow brings you good sleep,"

"A good sleep," Dr. Newgate parroted, glancing towards Ace with a suspicious knowing look on his face before turning his gaze to Dr. Kureha. After a while he merely sighed, glumly staring at the ceiling, "You're right, i probably do need that,"

Once he was satisfied with his own arrangement, Ace sat down on the ever present chair, bringing it closer to the bed to allow him to reach over and gave a comforting pat on Dr. Newgate's shoulder. The doctor simply gave a tired huff, closing his eyes and seemingly dozing off to the repeated, comforting rub on his shoulder.

Seconds passed in silence, almost comfortable if not for the presence of an unusual third person - or 18th, depending on whose point of view - in the room, who decided to make herself known again by a sharp throat clearing, "Fine, brat, everything seems to be on their way to be in order with you. You can leave in a week or so," Kureha banged her clipboard none so gently on her narrow hips, frowning towards her patient, "But, you're on forced paid leave until further notice. Crocus signed it off, you're using all of those leaves you never take for years now,"

With a grimace, Dr. Newgate opened his eyes, murmuring, "Seriously?" in an entirely exasperated yet reluctant tone. Seems like he might've expected it.

"Perfectly serious. And you're getting an at home care,"

This time, Dr. Newgate's eyes snapped open even wider, frowning thunderously, "_Seriously?_" he sneered, one arm pushing himself upwards despite hissing in pain. Ace had to reach over and pushed him back by his shoulders, holding the blond from sitting up further and accidentally injuring himself, though his warning fell on deaf ears, "I'm _not_ an invalid. I'm not having strangers in my house for hours on end. I'm a doctor, i can take care of myself."

"You've been hospitalized 7 times in the past 6 months alone with reasons from exhaustion to an actual fucking hole in your stomach, i think we all know very damn well that that's a lie,"

Dr. Newgate obviously had another retort for her, when he suddenly stilled with a pained gasp. Using this opportunity, Ace pushed him back to the bed again, worrying his lower lips when he looked at the sheer pain across the doctor's face, "Dumbass, you're not supposed to sit up just yet. I'm not a doctor and even i know that," he receive no reply, but a hand suddenly reaching over and clutching his wrist tightly.

"Shut up," Dr. Newgate hissed, but it hardly sounded as threatening as it's supposed to be when he's still reeling in pain. Ace watched him take a couple of deep breaths, before finally opening his eyes again, slightly unfocused behind the half lidded lids. The haziness was soon gone with a shake of his head, turning into a weak glare when Ace snorted derisively.

"If you had let me finish," Dr. Kureha's voice broke through their little moment, "By at home care, i was suggesting having someone who can monitor your healing process. Just because you know what medicines to take and when to take them doesn't mean that you'll actually do that, and i need someone that will see to it that you do. Especially since you live alone. I was going to nominate a nurse from this hospital, but since you're so against that," she now glanced to the side, where Ace was, and jerked her head towards his direction, "Then what about that boy? You two seems pretty chummy and he's not that much of a stranger to you, is he?"

"Him?"

"Me?"

Blue and grey irises met almost simultaneously at the sound of each other's owner's voice.

Dr. Newgate was the first to broke contact, pursing his lips thinly, "He's not a stranger, no, but i'm sure he has other responsib—"

"I'll do it,"

"What?"

In retrospect, the words came faster than Ace can actually think of the ramification and consequences of him agreeing to this. He has a job with a rather sporadic timetable, he has other responsibilities, hell, he might not be suitable to be responsible for someone else's health.

Yet when he lifted his head, he sees cheering ghosts, their eyes shining in hope and thanking him in a cacophony of noises that deafen him and him alone. He sees Newgate Sr. nodding in approval, mouthing his gratefulness over his children's voices. Ace could never get used to all of the gratitude this entire family has time and time again voice to him, and a part of his rather enjoys it because it feels… nice. It always feels so nice to see that he could make so many people be so happy from his uncanny ability, like the little girl on the front entrance with her daily flower gift, or this entire family.

He made a promise to these people. He's sticking to it to the end.

Besides, he thought to himself, grinning and facing the rather irate look on Dr. Newgate's face, at some point during all of this bizarre turn of events, he knows it's not just about the promise anymore.

"Wonderful," Dr. Kureha commented drily, her pencil scratching rather noisily on her clipboard as she jotted something down, "I'll prepare a list of everything you'll need to do and have some forms ready by tomorrow. Take a day off next week kid, you'll be busy the entire day," and with that, she left without another word, short, stumpy heels clicking on the floor until they faded away behind the doors.

"Ace, what a lad," Vista cackled slinging a translucent, charred arm around the younger's shoulder, his other hand tugging at the little burned strands that's left of his moustache. Jozu once said that he used to have a rather magnificent facial hair that he's really proud of, and even after so long, couldn't accept the loss of them in death by pretending he still has them, "I mean it, we…. well, everyone said it already and i'm sure you're bored to _death_—" Major groans around the room, emphasised by one 'Vista, i will make you even deader if you don't _stop_', "hearing us say it, but thank you. Truly,"

In reply, Ace gave the large, curly haired man a bashful smile, which he quickly hid away at Dr. Newgate's groan, "Why are you doing this? You do realize now you can't get out of this, right?"

"Who said i wanted to get out of this? I wanted to help, it's as simple as that,"

Instead of reacting the way his family did, Dr. Newgate simply glared at him, "What are you, my self-appointed guardian angel? Don't you have your own life, a job, family, anything else to take care of rather than some sick stranger? Even charity has its limits, you know,"

"Why are you trying to convince me not to? I already told you before that i wanted to help, didn't i? Well, i still do. Even if it means following you home, making sure you get some food and sleep, then i'll do it. Let someone care for you, for fuck's sake,"

At that, Dr. Newgate fell silent.

Dejectedly, Ace sighed. After all this time, was he only imagining it that Dr. Newgate was slowly warming up to him? Maybe he was merely humouring Ace's insistence, thinking he'd be free once he's released from the hospital?

Did nothing that he did mattered to him?

"Look, Dr. Newgate, i—"

"Marco," The dark haired man blinked in confusion, his words dying on his tongue. The blond in front of him sighed in bedgrudging acceptance, "You heard what Dr. Kureha said, they're putting me on suspension - sorry, _paid leave_, as if there's a difference - effective immediately, and a doctor who can't practice medicine is no doctor at all. And if you're going to be bugging me daily from now on, i prefer to be called my actual name than something so stuffy on a daily basis,"

Ace stared, blinking a couple more times. When the words finally fully sunk in - when the acceptance, however _outwardly_ reluctant finally sunk in - a grin blossomed on his lips, so brightly that it hurts his cheeks, "Right then, Marco. I'm Ace,"

Dr. New- _Marco_ gave him a bland stare, "I know what your name is,"

"Yeah, but you never used it i always thought you just forgot. No harm in reminding you who's going to be taking care of you from now on,"

"Until i recover,"

"Boo, i'm just repeating what you said,"

That evening, the laughter of ghosts rang throughout the hospital floor, as they watch two living human arguing endlessly, both unknowingly bearing identical smiles and taking comfort in each other's presence.

* * *

***Casually inserting foreshadowing of future mystery plot***

**Or as my friend called it after i told him the entire plot, "Bruh, what is this Phoenix Wright bullshit,"**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ayo, i have 3 assignments due soon and i wanna commit game over. Also, like always, sorry for the long update.**

**Thank you as always for reading and for your patience, and hope you'll enjoy!**

* * *

The day had started off well for Ace.

Luffy had his friend Usopp for a sleepover the night before, which means they had stayed up late and would wake up long after Ace could hoard all of the bacon slices and stole the eggs with the runniest yolks during breakfast. He hits all green light on his way to work, except for one intersection, where once the green light shifted to red, a cheerily dressed group started rushing from car to car, offering a ballon along with a voucher for a newly opened barbecue place nearby. Nice, a new restaurant neither he, Sabo nor Luffy had been blacklisted from. Maybe he'll take Sabo there after his discharge tomorrow.

Because of the lack of traffic, he arrived 15 minutes early, and after parking his car, Ace wandered about the neighbourhood planning to waste time when he noticed a sign by the station's favorite coffee shop that said half priced coffee and breakfast rolls as long as the stock last. And there's not much line by the cashier yet. He bought enough to feed his team, buying the more expensive roast as well in hope it'll be enough to dissuade his boss and his coworkers to let him get off early today.

He was humming happily all the way back to the station, arm full of delicious buttery rolls and cup carriers stacked high, when his luck decided to simply run out.

This come in the form of a sudden massive body bulldozing out of the garage, knocking him on his back with the power of a bullet train going full speed.

"Get out of my way!" those words were barked out so angrily and aggressively that Ace can hardly discern it from a row of growls, and in his dazed state, he only belatedly recognize the blur of angry white and red jacket and faint smell of cigar fleeting by. Ace also belatedly register the crunching sound of the paper bag where his newly acquired rolls were, being crushed right underneath heavy boots worn by an over 6'5 and nearly 280 pound mass of angry man.

When the sight of numerous spilled coffee cups came to his attention as well, he finally sees red, "Why, you—"

"Ah, ah, ah, boy," a hand grabbed him from behind all of the sudden, pulling an irate Ace almost stumbling backwards against someone's chest. He turned to see a familiar face grinning at him apologetically while the hand on his shoulder began to pat him appeasingly, "Sorry about that, it's just been a bad day for us. Could you please just let this go?"

In the couple of years he's been working in this station, Ace had only met Lieutenant Borsalino a couple of times, but even then, he could tell this is the most worn down he'd ever seen of the man. His usual easygoing smile held a certain strain to them, and there were bags underneath his crinkling eyes, signalling days of unrest. The yellow clad officer let him go with a small sigh, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. From inside, he pulled out a 3 5,000 belli bills, and practically pushed them to Ace's hand, "To cover your loss. Hope this is enough, hmm?"

A loud, enraged holler cuts Ace from replying, "Borsalino! Stop wasting time!"

"Yes, yes, Sakazuki, i'm going," even still smiling, there was certain snap in his voice that sows he's not as pleased as his expression showed, "If it's short, just call the department and ask for me. Or ask for Kuzan if i'm not there," this time, an impatient honk from a car cuts him off, and the smile began to slip off from the normally friendly Lieutenant, "_Yes_, Sakazuki, _i'm going. _See you around, kid," Ace watched him walk - stomp, even - towards the precinct car and entered the passenger side, slamming the door too loudly than needed. The very same second the door was slammed close, the car zoomed right out of its parking space in the speed that Ace could tell was borderline, if not pass illegal.

Now left alone, the dark haired fireman glanced to the wreckage around him, the pavement painted brown with milky blotches, and the sad, crumpled bag with most definitely unsalvageable rolls. He glanced down to the handful of bills, and sigh as he balled his hand.

And it had been such a good morning too.

* * *

"So who pissed in that asshole Sakazuki's cereal this morning?"

And of course Ace's morning continues to go downhill. When the chief founds out about the mess left on their front step, he was ordered to hose and clean them off as soon as he puts on his uniform. The cleaning itself hadn't been that big of a deal, but it's clear that his little incident had worsen the chief's already stormy mood. Great, now he might not be able to ask for an early leave.

Just great.

"You think he's the type to eat cereals for breakfast? I thought he's more of the kind who ate newborn babies instead," Kid looked up from the crushed bag of rolls he picked up, critically stared at the flattened bread he had picked out of it and shrugged before taking a bite of it. He told Ace that it would've been a waste to throw them away when _it was the bag_ that was stepped on, not the food inside. People who called Ace a mindless glutton obviously had never seen a grown man eating bread that already has a clear boot print over it and think there's nothing wrong with that.

With a disgusted grimace, the dark haired man looked away and continues with hosing the pavement clean of any mess, "True. But that doesn't answer my question. The chief looks really pissed off too, did something happen?

"Oh, yeah. They had a meeting since early in the morning about the city hall arson case,"

That got Ace's attention, "Sabo's case? What happened, did they have a new lead?"

"Nah, it's the other way around," the red haired man took another large chomp out of the poor roll, demolishing it in that very same bite before licking his fingers, "They found jack shit. Went in on Chief Neptune, accusing our department for sloppy work, hiding evidence," Kid's lips smacked wetly as he chew and continued to speak, his eyes rolling upwards in recollection, "I don't know, a whole bunch of shit. The chief wasn't taking that lying down and started blaming the police for being corrupt. Fukaboshi had to hold him back before he and Sakazuki could start throwing hands,"

That explains why the chief's eldest son had been in his office earlier and why he had been in such a hurry to shoo Ace away, "So what, there's no progress at all? They hadn't found anything? Any suspect?"

"Nope," The word was followed by a loud swallow, before the red haired fireman reached into the bag for another roll. He was only a second too long before Ace felt like slapping the bag away and forcing him to speak already, "Well, we've investigated to hell and back and it's clear by now this isn't an accident. Because it's the city hall, they thought it might be spoliation since it happens too close after the bi-annually courthouse spring cleaning and a lot of sensitive documents are going to be in one same place. Maybe Sanjuan Wolf is back to cover his tracks all those years ago, or maybe it's someone helping him,"

Though never convicted, Sanjuan Wolf was once accused for the murder of Absalom, a local reporter, for arson on the Thriller Bark Daily where the man was employed, and the only suspect in the 5 years worth of mysterious arson cases. Even then, the evidence against him were circumstantial at best. His fingerprint was found around the crime scene and on a bat near Absalom's charred body, which somehow miraculously didn't end up burned enough to erase the evidence.

A deranged ex-prisoner and an unstable individual supposedly living on the streets after his release from prison, he somehow managed to get represented in court by Van Augur, a famous defense attorney of certain notoriety, and got a not guilty verdict. Sanjuan Wolf supposedly disappeared off the street afterwards, and there is no telling if he is still in the city or not.

Everything was suspicious from start to end, but in the end, no conviction was made, no criminal was punished, and the town remained gripped in fear as the next fire struck.

"I was a volunteer back when he was caught after that newspaper incident and i managed to see him during his trial. The guy was weird, he was clinging all over his lawyer like some scared kid. No way he did all of those fires and kept getting away without any help. If you ask me, he must have an employer," the sneer of disgust on Kid's face looked like it was aimed to the half eaten roll in his hand, but not even the sad looking baked goods earned that sort of scorn.

Ace nodded half-heartedly, "That's the theory flying around isn't it? That there's some vandal group masterminding behind all of these fires?" he aimed the hose in is hands closer to a persistent dirty spot, gritting his teeth, "Well, i couldn't give less of a fuck, i just want whoever's responsible to be caught already, or else, where's the justice for the victims? People who got hurt like Sabo, all those people who died like that reporter or the other victims," the dark haired man clutched the squirming hose in his hand tighter, feeling his chest hitching when he added quietly, "What about the people who lost their loved ones?"

How many times by now had he seen the way Marco's eyes turned distant, peering away from the room they're in and to see him completely missing his family around him? How many times had he see one of the doctor's brothers reaching over only for their hands to go through him, unable to reach him anymore? And he had only known Marco for a couple of weeks, what was it like for the Newgate family for the last 5 years? How does it feel like for Marco, who has never let go of that loss for just as long?

And he was so close to losing his best friend, one of the few people in this world who knew him in entirety and still treated him like kin. If he had lost Sabo, Ace didn't know if he would've fared any better than Marco.

Marco, who lost all of his family in a single night, now all alone, hating life.

The weight in his hand suddenly got lighter, and Ace peered down to see that heavy pressure water no longer spouted from the end of the hose. He turned in time to see Kid straightening up from the hydrant the hose was attached to, presumably to turn it off, "The pavement's clean already, you're just wasting water at this point," he pointed out, before sighing after a few seconds of silence, massive shoulders drooping, "I know it's been hard on you, Ace. I mean, for most of us, it's still a job, something that ends the moment we hung up the suit but for you, it's personal now. Someone you know got hurt. Wish i could say anything else to make you feel better, but i doubts words meant much,"

"Not much, no," Ace admitted with a shake of his head, yet still threw Kid a wan smile, "But thanks anyway,"

* * *

In the end, he didn't get to leave early, but Ace was passed feeling annoyed about what happened in the morning by the time he drove off from the florist, a bouquet of Black-Eyed Susans sitting and strapped by the seatbelt on the passenger seat.

There was an odd change in the air as soon as he entered from the entrance door, a feeling of sudden wariness that overtook him. The ghost girl by the front door hadn't looked particularly cheery when he greeted her, her body language timid and shy, and every staff member that he passed by had looked to be on the edge, occasionally glancing back somewhere deeper into the building and whispering to each other.

When they were far enough, Ace frowned and asked the girl if something happened before he came in, "A man just came in," she finally said with watery voice, fiddling with the single stem of flower he had just given her, "I don't… like him. Something about him scares me,"

That doesn't answer much, but at least that told him enough that something did happen. Steeling himself, Ace bid her a quick goodbye before walking through the hallway, pass the front receptionist and waiting room where he began to pick up both the sight of half-formed crowd and a loud, stern voice that becomes louder the closer he walked over. It wasn't quite on the way to the patient's wing, but curiosity got the better of him, and the freckled male made a short detour to the gawking crowd.

In the middle, right between three confused and unsure security guards were two men, an older one wearing the same lab coats the other doctors had on, with the look of absolute disdain on his face, presumably for the man in front of him. The other man's entire posture was relaxed, even almost mocking as he reacted with the old doctor's gruff, angry voice with a nonchalant shrug, lifting up his shoulder along with the hand carrying a small bouquet of flower, "—repeat one more time that you are still banned from the premises, Mr. Teach, and if you do not remove yourself from this facility in the next 5 minutes i will call the authorities,"

Mr. Teach, large, robust, and still holding the same mocking smile with his shoulders lifted up in incredulity, "I'm not trying to step on any shoes here, Dr. Crocus, i just want to visit a sick friend of mine, why is that so wrong? In fact, i should sue this place for not informing me of his condition, you know i am the closest thing to a next of kin that he has left—"

"Out!" Whatever semblance of control Dr. Crocus seems to have left obviously has left him, as he advanced threateningly. Just as the security guards suddenly jolt, probably thinking they need to restrain the doctor, Ace caught Mr. Teach's little jump backwards. Maybe he wasn't feeling as flippant as he seems, "Before i call the police! I've made myself clear on what i thought of you 5 years ago, Mr. Teach and as long as i live, i will make sure to protect every single one of my patients and staff from anything, anything at all!"

One of the security guard, finally deciding he had enough, walked over behind Mr. Teach and roughly grabbed him by the elbow. Following his example, the other security guard by his side does the same, while the last one made his way over to Dr. Crocus instead, murmuring something low before stepping in front of the old doctor. Mr. Teach, probably knowing he's not going to win this one, made a grand gesture of lifting both of arms in surrender, subtly shaking off the guard's hand on his elbow, "Alright, fine! I'll be leaving! What a shame to see a hospital treating a model citizen so poorly. I'm sure Daily Raftel and every radio station would love to hear about this during my next interview with them,"

Dr. Crocus' face twisted in anger, ready to yell out what would probably be a string of profanity judging by his expression, when the security guard and nurse near him crowded by him, obviously telling him to calm down. Mr. Teach gave him a wide, ugly smile, big enough that Ace could see a hole on one of his teeth as the man walked towards the crowd, followed closely by the two security guards. The crowd dispersed to make way for him like a wave, the air filled with unease and stiff movements.

Ace himself backed away, eyeing the dark haired large man carefully when, suddenly, Mr. Teach stopped in front of him, eyeing him from top to bottom before his beady little eyes were stuck on the Black-Eyed Susan in Ace's hold. Unconsciously, he held the flowers closer to his chest.

Mr. Teach gave him an eerie smile, not the kind that reassure Ace further about his character. He swung the bouquet in his own hand and casually tossed it over to Ace, who caught it albeit with a little fumble, "Looks like i have no use for that anymore. A shame, really, aren't they beautiful? He would've _loved_ them," he gave a unique, dastardly sounding laugh before walking away, vanishing behind he bright light shining down the entrance door.

The crowd around him was starting to disperse, and with an angry huff, Dr. Crocus disappeared along with the security guard and nurse who held him back. Left standing alone, Ace glanced down at the flower Mr. Teach gave him, and felt an odd sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knows people doesn't always give flowers based on their meanings, but there was something eerie about this one, something wicked he just couldn't explain.

He fingered one of the petals, and swallowed.

Black rose, petals as dark as night sky.

Black rose, the symbolism of death.

* * *

"Hey, Marco, sorry i'm late, but something happened downstairs and i— What the hell?!"

Okay, in retrospect, for someone who's been thinking and saying how sad it is that he was the only (alive) visitor in this room, Ace thought maybe he shouldn't have reacted so violently to the sight of someone other than himself or the hospital staff by the doctor's bed. But still, he thought he's still pretty justified by his reaction, because there is absolutely no reason why _this person_ is here. At all.

"Oh, Ace! You're finally here!" Rouge Gol smiled sunnily at her shellshocked son, and started waving at him to come closer with one hand. The other, Ace saw as he stomped over to his mother, was holding a familiar container filled with her famous homemade cookies. It wasn't the type he was familiar with, definitely not the chocolate ones he liked, and without even looking, Rouge was still pushing them towards Marco.

Marco who, for his part, kept looking at Ace with the expression of a cornered rabbit, mouthing 'Help me' almost too frantic for him to catch.

"Mom, why are you here?!" Ace demanded, ignoring the blond increasingly desperate look, "Aren't you supposed to be down with Sabo and helping him pack?"

"Oh, Koala's helping him with it. I also want to give them both some alone time, you know they won't have some time alone in a while after he's released tomorrow. So i'm here to keep Marco company waiting for you to come," the red haired woman turned back to the harried looking patient on the bed, who froze in alarm, "Now come on, dear, you need to eat more. Oh, if only Ace tells me things i would've bring something more nutritious than these oat cookies. You look so pale, are you even eating right? That's why you're in the hospital now, isn't it? You must not be eating right and got sick,"

"Mom—"

"Ace, you're old enough to know that it's rude to talk to me when i'm still talking to someone else," Rouge gave him a glare, and as quick as it appear, her smile and warmth was back as she turned her attention to Marco again, "I'm so sorry for him, he's usually knows his manners. If he's every rude to you, just let me know, okay? He's never too old to be put on my lap and spanked,"

Somewhere in the room, almost forgotten due to his predicament, at least a couple of the Newgate siblings, including Edward Newgate himself started laughing, quiet snickers slowly turning into loud guffaws. The heat that crept up Ace's face, especially at the incredulous look on Marco's face, felt way too hot to be normal, "Oh my god, Mom!"

When Rouge kept looking expectantly at him, Marco finally stammered out a reply, eyes darting between the mother and son, "Uh, y-yeah, he's… alright. I mean, he's been keeping me company,"

The red haired woman smiled, pleased by the answer, "Oh, that's good. He gave you those flowers too, right? I taught him those, you know, i'm actually really happy to see him still remember them. Now, come on, take some more cookies,"

Thatch walked over to Ace, still laughing and clutching his stomach in hilarity, "She's been here for hours, talking our ears off and scaring Marco into eating those cookies. We should've known this is your Mom, you two look so similar,"

Oh god, this has been going on for hours? "Mom, can i talk to you?" Ace finally gritted out, half tossing the bouquets in his hand near the vases and flowers that decorate the bedside table and added, "Outside?"

In a behaviour unbefitting a 50 - not that she looked it - years old woman, Rouge gave her son an eye roll and an indignant pout, "Fine," she said with a dainty click of her tongue, and turned to Marco again with that disarming smile. Ace thought Marco looks more scared than reassured, his eyes sharply going to the manicured, lithe hands reaching for his forearm, "Kids. I'll be right back, and when i get back, i want to see those cookies all gone, okay? You're not going to disappoint me, right?"

"No, no, no. I'll eat, i'll eat," The way Marco whimpered over this small woman would've been hilarious, if Ace doesn't completely understand his feeling. His mother has that effect on people.

With one last smile, she stood up, patting her dress down and doing it so slowly that Ace had to round her up and practically escorted her outside the door. Once the door was closed behind them, Ace wasted no time in showing his absolute disbelief, "Mom, why are you here?! You can't just waltz in inside someone's hospital room like that, you don't even know him!"

"Oh, and you do before his family's ghost came to you?" Rouge immediately retorted, crossing her arms, "I don't know what's the big deal is, you're here because his family's ghost ask you to come keep him company, but you have work to do so i'm keeping him company instead. What's so wrong about that?"

"There's so many things wrong with that, and how do you even know about those stuff?"

"Sabo told me," Ah, of course. Something tells Ace it's probably not voluntary either. Knowing both of them, his mother was probably curious where he kept going to and Sabo, who would avoid uttering the word ghost and its synonyms from his mouth, was forced to because no one says no to Rouge Gol, "And you mister, how can you keep something like this from your mother? That poor man looked so lonely and sad, and he looked so unhealthy, i could've cooked for him, i've seen what this place fed their patients,"

"Mom!" in his frustration, Ace almost missed Thatch phasing through the door, no longer laughing but with a present large smile on his face, "Look, this is different, okay? This isn't just some ghost stuff, Marco is seriously troubled and he doesn't like people, it took a while for me to be able to talk normally to him, or hell, for him to want to talk to me," he glanced to the side to find Thatch, whose expression melted has to one of grim acceptance over his words, "If you know all that, you should also know who he is,"

"I know, Sabo told me too, poor family," the long haired woman pressed both of her hands on her chest and gazed at the door melancholically, "And that poor boy. When i came today i just want to see how he was, but then i look at how thin he is, his pale and clammy skin, and there was this look on his lonely face when i first came in and, oh, as a mother and a woman, it broke my heart, sweetheart. I can't help it, maybe i can't see his family like you can, but i want to help him too. Your father knew his, if Roger could be here today, he would've come with me. We're a family of bleeding hearts, Ace, you know we can't help it,"

At Rouge's sincere expression, Ace knew he couldn't exactly argue with that, "Just… no barging in like this again, okay? Marco actually looks terrified of you and as someone who's been your child for over 20 years, i can't blame him,"

"Well, you can't blame me, like i said i want to meet the person you've been seeing,"

Though the meaning quickly registered in Ace's mind, it didn't stop his cheeks to flare up again, "Can you please word that better?"

"Why? You have been seeing him, and be honest with yourself, he's actually kind of a looker," Rouge smiled playfully, nudging at Ace with her elbow, "I won't be surprised if you tell me right now you have some other ulterior motive coming here every day,"

Why is his face getting hotter? "No, i don't! I'm just here to keep him company, nothing else!"

"Well, you did kind of slept with him once,"

Swallowing a squeak and realizing a few seconds too late that his mother can't hear Thatch's comment, Ace sharply glared to his side, "You, shut up, and you know that's not what happened,"

Rouge's gasp almost gave Ace a whiplash over ow quick he turned again to face her, "Is one of Marco's family member here with us? Hello, i'm Rouge Gol, Ace's mom. I'm sorry i can't see where you are but it's very nice to meet you," after a quick pause, she then added to Thatch's general direction, "And what happened? Did something happen?"

"Hey, Ace, tell her what happened. And tell her, word for word now, 'Lovely to meet someone so beautiful, madam', because dude, your Mom's_ hot_!"

"One, i am not telling her that, two, i am not telling her that, and three, i am not repeating that, that's my mom!"

"Oh, what did he say, Ace? Come on, introduce us,"

"Mom, this is Thatch Newgate and i am so glad you both can't talk to each other,"

His mom and Thatch both laugh in an eerily synchronised way, which just made Ace even more disgruntled about this entire situation, "Fine, i'll be going. But don't forget to pop in to Sabo's room before you leave later, okay? Uncle Garp and Cousin Dragon even took a day off today so they can visit later, and i know Uncle would want to meet his grandkids before going back to base next week," she started to turn away, before stopping herself mid-way, "Ace?"

"Yes, mom?"

A smile bloomed on Rouge's face, the kind that held grace and comfort behind them. The one that always made Ace so grateful he got her as a mother, "I want you, you, Marco, Thatch, the entirety of the Newgate family to understand one thing. Marco lost his entire family, but that doesn't mean he can never get a new one," she glanced somewhere next to Ace, an empty space for those who doesn't know better, but Ace saw from his periphery ow Thatch stiffen up, realizing she was trying to speak to him, "And if he ever wanted it, he will never be turned away from ours. We cannot replace those who has always been with him until one point in his life, but we can make sure he will not be alone for the rest of it,"

With a respectful bow and one last smile, Rouge finally walked away, her heels echoing through the empty hall.

"Ace?"

Ace turned to the sound of his name, and once he saw the look on Thatch's face, he respectfully turned away again, watching his mother walk away. He waited silently for Thatch to continue on his own, only humming to show that he is listening, "I wish you told her what i said, man," Thatch finally said, the shakiness in his voice unmistakable, "I wish i could've said something, anything to her,"

When Rouge finally disappears behind the elevator door, her son nodded slowly in agreement.

* * *

"You actually finished those cookies?"

After taking a moment to compose himself, Ace came back inside to find the container his mother left behind only had one single oatmeal cookie inside of it when he was sure there was at least 4 before they walked out. Marco was on the middle of nibbling half of one, and didn't even try to finish as he spoke, "It's actually really good,"

"Mom would love to hear that, she's always so proud about her baked goods," The dark haired man walked over to the bedside table, picking up the two bouquets he put away earlier. He picked up his the yellow arrangement, before making a face at the black roses. Glancing at Marco to make sure he was still distracted with the cookies, he lifted the small bouquet and used one hand to clasp all of the petals and crushing it by balling his hand. It's such a waste, and the flowers' only crime was being picked by some inconsiderate asshole, but he can't helpful the looming dreadful feeling of bad omen attached to them. He should've looked for a trash can before getting here.

"What's that?"

"Nothing," he replied before tossing the now crushed arrangement into the trash can by the table, pushing them deep along with the rest of the waste. Once that was over, he moved on to the new bouquet of flower, putting them away as usual along with the rest of the arrangements.

For a while, there was no sound in the room aside from the quiet _'swish-swish' _of flowers being moved around, and Marco's quiet munching. Then, after a while, the blond suddenly spoke, "Oh, that's right,"

Ace paused on his arranging, to see Marco peering off distantly to the wall in front of him. Unbeknownst to him, it was where Newgate Sr. sat, watching his son with alert eyes, "What is it?"

"This is an oatmeal cookie, right? That's why it felt so nostalgic," the man murmured quietly, raising the now roughly crescent shaped cookie up to eye level, "Pops always wanted to eat one of these,"

The stem Ace had been holding fell from his lose grip, but he didn't even notice it. Sitting on the end of the room, Edward shifted, back straightening up as he took a deep, emotional breath. Marco took another bite out of it, cutting right half of the crescent shape. He chewed slowly and swallowed, and as he spoke, there was a rasp on his voice that didn't come from just swallowing a dry food, "He's on this strict diet after his checkup result came back less than satisfying, and i had him put under strict diet. One of them being oatmeals for breakfast," he laughed, the sound a painful mix of amusement and grief, "He hated them so much,"

He laughed again, hiccuping once. Ace placed down his unfinished work and walked over by his bedside, watching the older man carefully, "Marco…,"

"He says that, maybe if the oatmeal he has to eat actually taste good, he'd take it. Then he heard about oatmeal cookies and wanted them for his breakfast instead because 'it's the same thing' and if there's two things he loves, it's alcohol and sweets," a smile appeared on his face, shaky, but present, "Everyone all conspired behind my back to make that perfect batch of cookies that met both my requirement and Pops' taste. When they finally came to me to show me their bright idea, i rejected each one of them. One as ingredients Pops shouldn't take for his diet, some with too much calorie, others were healthy but it doesn't taste good and that defeats the purpose. They called me too strict, i called them enablers,"

Marco raised the last cookie bite, but stopped mid way, his hand and shoulder shaking, "To the end of his life, Pops never got to eat those oatmeal cookies he wanted. All he wanted was something so simple, i couldn't even let him have that," the cookie fell back into the container, clattering against the plastic surface as the blond used both of his hands to cover his face, curling into himself as sobs began to wrecked through his body, "There's still so much… So many things i never said… things we never do… Why? Why were they taken away from me? Why can't i join them?"

"Marco," Edward's sorrowful deep voice beats Ace to the punch, as the man stood up from his seat and made his way to the bed. His effort to touch his son's shaking shoulder was futile as his large hand passed by him, and despite that, he still try to grab on to him, and in the end, with a scowl on his burnt face, he rushed forward, arms wide and motioning for an embrace.

He went right through him again.

If Ace was to explain in the future why he did what he did, he would tell anyone who ask that for that split second he felt possessed, he felt like he wasn't in control of is own body. Not the kind of possessed one would relate to ghost either, it was as if his body has a mind of its own, and decided his actions faster than his brain could.

Or maybe, maybe it was something he always did wanted to do, something he felt like he should've done.

The bed made a loud creak when he climbed it, and the sight of Edward's arm jutting out from the side of his chest was weird to look at in retrospect, but Ace noticed none of that. He couldn't see much of all beyond Marco's limp golden tresses, his head lying on the juncture of Ace's neck with his heaving, shaking body against his own. Ace couldn't notice much beyond feeling the warmth of Marco's back underneath his arm, could hardly register the wetness slowly dripping down his face as well.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, but he know he stayed in that position for a long time; his thighs almost straddling Marco, face buried in blond hair and feeling each cries tearing out of a grieving man against his chest that he didn't feel his own.

Ace held him tight, mourning along for a family who he never met alive, all the while hoping that his own warmth was a suitable substitute to the one Edward Newgate can no longer gave his children.

* * *

"Hey,"

"Oh, i thought you're asleep,"

Marco gazed at him blearily, eyes still swollen red. Ace didn't think he's looking any better anyway, "You never told me," the older man whispered, voice rough from sleep and tears, "What those flower means,"

Ace tilted his head up from where he lays it on the bed, his hunched over body protesting slightly at the strain. In the end, he straightened up, stretching his stiff back from how long he had sat, nearly dozing off in that position, "You didn't know?"

With furrowed brows, Marco seems to consider them. In the end, he shook his head, "If i do, it's slipping my mind right now,"

Stretching up again, Ace reached over for one of the flower stems, plucking it out the bouquet and bringing it closer to Marco. He held the bottom of the stem as the older man tentatively gripped the top of it, just by the base of the bloom, his fingers curiously poking the petals.

"They're called Black-eyed Susans," Ace told him, watching those long fingers caressing the flower petals, "And they mean 'Justice',"

* * *

**Well, lemme know what you think so far, i'm pretty sure by now it's pretty obvious what's going on, but it's not like i can hide things when some particular names are already on the tag and stuff... **

**Anyway, thanks again!**


	9. Chapter 9

In one of the more anti-technology rants Roger used to spew left and right - usually triggered by seeing Ace on his phone for longer than 5 _seconds_ \- one of his favourite thing to say was that mobile phones and the internet will only cause young people to rot their brains out.

Of course, those words were only mere ironic echoes nowadays, when 70% of Roger's time in a day will be spent on his phone's browser, where he would inadvertently said he was looking at work emails when Rouge and Ace both knew he was addicted to searching up video sharing sites for funny videos and online articles he can trade back and forth with either Uncle Ray or Grandpa Garp.

Still, there was no denying the grain of truth in his father's old spiel, Ace thought, stretching on his seat as he rubbed his tired and bleary eyes. He had only meant for a quick research, not spend what his digital clock told him was nearly 3 hours in front of his computer, skimming through articles after articles online. The last time he had this kind of headache was during the Disastrous Deadline of his Very Important Graduating Essay.

With a stifled yawn, he squeezed his eyes shut, heel of his palm digging down hard enough to cause dark spots to appear behind his eyelids.

"I told you, you shouldn't be that close to the screen," said the chastising voice somewhere from his bed, the trail end almost drowned by Kotatsu's rumbling purr from his lap, "It's not good for yours eyes. What are you reading, anyway?"

Ace made a noncommittal sound, blinking harder than he should as he allowed both hands to flop over Kotatsu's lounging and purring body, "News," he replied, tilting his head enough to look ay his late night guest. Thin down to the bones, pale skinned, and gaunt faced, but there was still that familiar jovial smile on Brook's face that couldn't seem to be diminished by the fact that his old neighbour has been a ghost for the last 2 years.

"Oh hoh! A youngster who followed the news around them! I'm so happy i could do a jig!" And he did exactly that, with the kind of nimble movement thought impossible on a 90 years old. Well, he's not quite 90 anymore, just dead, "Ah, being dead is nice on the bones. Because that's all i am now! Ho ho!"

That rehashed joke was old the first time he appeared in Ace's room 2 days after his death, but of course, Ace isn't going to tell him that.

"Now, what sort of news are you reading?" Brook approached, half skipping, not even hesitating to partially pass Ace's shoulder to look at his screen. The action barely phased Ace anymore, but Kotatsu, in the ever suspicious act that convinced him his cat - all cats? - has the same ability as him, hissed in shock at Brook's direction and quickly skedaddled. He silently mourned the lost of heat, "Let's see… '_Behind the Tragedy That Took Raftel's Richest Family'_? '_Billionaire's Death Mourned by Community_'? Why now, aren't these all about—"

"The Newgate Arson, yeah," Ace moved his mouse, clicking through the opened tabs until he found a specific article, "And this story is so… suspicious, to say the least. Look at this," he scrolled down the article, highlighting one of the paragraph, "_Sources confirmed that there is at least one survivor of this entire tragedy, however, we are have yet to receive word from the Newgate family spokesperson or the law enforcement for further information," _

Brook straightened up, mouth forming a perfect 'o' as he let out a high and surprised 'Ho!', "A survivor? My word, this is the first time i heard of such a thing! And i followed that news religiously,"

"Exactly. And out of the dozens of articles i read, locally and internationally, this is the only article that even mentioned anything about this survivor,"

Long, skeleton-y fingers tapped on equally skinny forearms in deep thought, "Hmm. Perhaps this one is just mistaken or outdated?"

Ace pursed his lips and shook his head with vigour, "No, that's the thing. There… there is a survivor,"

"Ho ho!" Brook exclaimed, "Now that's a surprise! And how do you come to this knowledge, Ace lad?"

"Because i met him," the dark haired man told his ghost guest, quietly and intently re-reading the same line in the only article where the truth is unconcealed, "And i met the rest of the Newgate family,"

At his words, Brook turned oddly silent. Curious, Ace turned away, to see the deceased geriatric looking down at him, "Well now, lad," he said finally after a while, missing the usual cheery tone in his voice, "I supposed you do have a strong reason for all of this. And if that is true, then this is quite an odd situation in our hand,"

"That's not the only weird thing," Ace swivelled his chair back to the computer, scrolling to the top of the site. He aimed the cursor underneath the bolded headline - _'Devastating Fire Terrifies Citizen: Accident or Arson?_ ' - and to the small clickable name that signifies the author of the piece, "This article is published by Thriller Bark Daily, the same news company that burned down just a couple of months after the arson. And the journalist's name? Absalom Leo. This guy was killed during that fire, and the prime suspect for his murder is also the only suspect for the arsons for the past 5 years,"

He scrolled down the list of open tabs, to open the newest one had had been reading. The very first thing that appeared was the picture of a massive man with oversized head crying heavily as he was being swarmed by a group of reporters, a man with bespoke suit wearing a monocle pulling him along. Underneath the picture, a credit was given to the photographer, along with the title of the picture itself: _'Sanjuan Wolf acquitted of all charges, lead outside of court by attorney Van Augur'_.

"It just doesn't makes sense," Ace tapped on his monitor, one finger on Sanjuan and the other on Van Augur, tapping them alternatively, "Sanjuan Wolf is just a homeless guy, and even if he is insane enough to burn down buildings," his tapping fingers ended on Van Augur, then began tapping again in barrage to show his frustration, "Why would a high profile attorney like Van Augur be involved? I've seen him on TV every now and then, and his clients are usually celebrities, politicians and big named CEOs. Why is someone like that suddenly doing _pro bono_ for someone who obviously can't pay him?"

"Notoriety, perhaps," Brook supplied, cocking his hips to the side as he grabbed his lower chin, "This case did get national attention,"

"Or someone else is paying him,"

The contemplating silence that grew was palpable, broken nearly a minute later by Ace's heavy sigh, "I don't know. For such a famous incident, there's barely any information at all," he gestured to the screen, specifically what felt like hundreds of tabs open in his browser, "Nor is there any on the other fires that followed suit. I only joined the fire department after the Thriller Bark Daily incident, and with all the fires ever since, there's no conclusive evidence on whether or not they're linked. The police couldn't find anything, the fire inspector couldn't find anything, and honestly, i don't even know if the Newgate Arson and the Thriller Bark one is even done by the same person. The thought just crossed my mind because of Absalom Leo's death and his article,"

"But it is all very circumstantial," Brook concluded, making Ace sigh heavily in agreement.

"It's so," he huffed, staring back to the monitor with such concentration as if the words will suddenly appear on its own, "suspicious. It's making me think this is something bigger than just major arson, maybe even a conspiracy-"

"Aaace!" A voice suddenly called out from the hallway, made even closer when his bedroom door was opened unannounced and Luffy stepped in, "I'm hungry, make me a midnight snack,"

The older cousin lifted his head blearily, glancing to the computer's digital clock and frowned, "It's 1 in the morning, you have school tomorrow, why are you still up?"

"Texting Zoro,"

"Why is he still up?"

"We have a test tomorrow we forgot to study for,"

Of course it is, "Just give me 5 minutes, i'll be right with you," Might as well save all these links, maybe he'll thought of something better when he felt fresher. Or maybe he should talk to someone about it, see if they thought of something else. Not Sabo, he doesn't want him to be reminded of his own incident so soon. Maybe Kid, he's been in the fire department longer than he has. _Definitely_ not Marco, "Just wait on the bed. Say hi to Brook,"

Luffy's impatient look was quickly replaced with joy, as he frantically searched the bed like he could actually see where their ex-neighbour's ghost is, "Brook's here? Hi Brook!" He bounded towards the bed, flopping face down and bouncing from the force, "Am i close? Am i touching him?"

If anything, Luffy is now becoming Brook's seat, before the elderly man shuffled away to sit next to him, "Ho hoh! Young Luffy, always full of energy. You always bring so much joy it rattled my bones," he paused, and Ace could practically hear the incoming joke like a loud freight train, "Because that's all i am now, Ho!"

"He's next to you," the dark haired man drawled, setting up a separate folder in his browser to bookmark every article he found. He paused on one that comes from what he is sure is just basically a gossip coloumn, and rather distastefully claimed that they brought intimate details inside of the Newgate family only days after their passing. From what he has skimmed earlier, it was mostly rumour and conjectures - like a biological child Edward Newgate supposedly abandoned - and even borderline privacy breach if the couple of paparazzi shots were to be believed. With a sneer, Ace closed it down.

On his bed, Luffy snickered, and curled into himself like he's a larger version of Kotatsu, hand reaching for something invisible, "Aw, Brook, i missed hearing you play the violin," he confessed earnestly, "I don't even like music, but you always look so cool playing them. And i want to hear stories about the Yorki Orchestra again, and about your old dog Laboon, man, you were the coolest, oldest guy i ever met,"

With a fond smile, Brook placed his see-through hand over Luffy's head, patting him in a grandfatherly way, "I wish i can play you some of my music one more time too, Luffy. You are my grooviest little friend,"

Ace paused from bookmarking the last few of the articles, and glanced back to the bed, where Luffy was unknowingly hugging Brook by the waist while having his head petted like once upon a time. The heartwarming sight of intergenerational friendship beyond spiritual boundaries made him smile, only for the melancholy to hit him when it reminded him just how close their family was to their elderly neighbour during his life time.

Despite reaching 90, Brook was still one of the most active man he knows, and since his retirement, would often plays his violin in retirement homes and community centres any time he could. There was no pre-existing sickness or underlying conditions, so his passing still come as a surprise, especially with how spry he is, but at least he had died peacefully in his sleep. And Ace, as well as his family, knew he's still around, occasionally visiting. It's not quite the same, but there's a sense of comfort for his presence, and knowing he is alright.

Marco, on the other hand…

"Ace?" Luffy called out, face full of confusion, "You okay? You got quiet. Are you done? Can we get food now—"

"Hey Luffy," he cuts the younger off, and even if his question will be for Luffy, Ace glanced towards Brook as well, "If i never have this ability to see ghost, and therefore can't see Brook, would you have been sadder when you were told he died?"

With a little frown, Luffy cocked his head to the side, "I guess? But it's only because then, i won't be able to tell him he's a good musician or that i like his puns anymore and make him happy. I can't see him now, but Ace can tell me if he's happy to hear it or not," he grinned, "That's why you have to tell people all the nice things you want to tell when they're alive, so you can still see their smile when they hear it,"

Brook was silent throughout, but his smile grew with Luffy's every word. Ace pretended not to notice when he discreetly wiped his eyes, "But what if there's still things you wanted to tell them but can't anymore," he asked, "What would you do?"

This time, it took Luffy a little longer to think, face scrunched up funnily as it always is whenever he's in 'deep thought', "Weeell, i guess i'd tell someone else about it, so those nice things never stopped being said, you know?" the younger blinked his eyes open with a wide grin and nodded with conviction, seemingly satisfied with whatever reply he came up with, "Yeah, like, i told my friends about Brook when they came over, and showed them that cool snowglobe Yorki souvenir he gave me. It's like how Zoro told me all about Kuina, his friend who dies when they're kids, and she's why he trained so hard in kendo. I never met Kuina and they never met Brook, but now we can all think 'Oh, they were so cool!'"

He turned to his side, probably trying to look at Brook, although he missed by a couple of centimetres, "If Ace can't see Brook and i don't know that Brook can listen, i'd still tell everyone about him, so maybe wherever he might be, he can still listen to it and know we haven't forgot about him. And then more people'll know how awesome he was!"

Oh.

There's a certain heaviness in Ace's chest, because even if Luffy was talking about Brook, somehow, his mind flew to a different group of people altogether. For 5 years, they stayed, unable to move on, watching the one person they loved utterly destroyed himself in sorrow. He thought of Marco as he reminisce his beloved father, and Edward's utter failure to comfort his son.

For a family so long drowned in despair, isn't it truly time for them to have something good?

And Luffy's words, filled with honesty and sincerity, as light as it is, they held all of the answers.

"Ace? Are you crying?"

"Just got something in my eyes," he lied, making a show of rubbing his eyes away of any foreign object, "Come on, i'll make you whatever snack you want. But straight back to studying after that, alright? We don't want Garp to toss you around the walls again,"

* * *

"Why are you here?"

Ace stopped both recounting the silly incident in the station earlier - One has to be there to see why Kid is forbidden from communal fridge - and arranging the bouquet of anthurium and gerbera in between the other arrangements from previous visits. A dash of red from gerbera here for cheerfulness, and more red from a bunch of anthurium there for happiness in abundance, "What do you mean? I told you i took a day off for today, remember?"

Now, his confusion was genuine, but the grimace Marco gave him made him think the man is being obtuse on purpose. Which he isn't, "I mean… never mind," he mumbled the last part and turned away to continue on watching the television. The volume was at the lowest, tuning in on some documentary about an obscure scientific matter that Ace couldn't be bothered to follow with. The blond seems to pay attention just fine, though not entirely focused.

And the reason for said lack of focus was the fact that he kept glancing at Ace every time he probably thought the younger man wasn't looking. Which Ace certainly was; he's been thinking of how to broach the subject in between arranging the flowers and telling whatever stupid story he could think of to kind of get the ball rolling. Somewhere after telling about how the entire station accidentally caused Shirahoshi, Chief Neptune's youngest to cry on her first visit, he kind of lost the plot.

Worse still, he's not sure why, but Fossa's been sitting between them for 5 minutes now, one unburned eye staring at Ace silently.

"Okay," Ace finished lamely, and going back to his flower arrangement.

Soon as he put one gerbera down, he glanced back and yet again, found Marco side-eyeing him.

"I mean," the doctor said finally, shrugging, "Isn't Sabo supposed to be released today? Shouldn't you be there for your friend?"

"Oh, he's fine, he knows where i am," just to prove a point, Ace picked up his phone from his pocket and opened the family groupchat - originally, it's now the invite-fuck-all-cus-everyone's-as-good-as-family-anyway groupchat - to scroll to near bottom where Koala last posted a picture of Sabo's last check up before waiting discharge. He showed the screen to Marco, careful not to scroll lower or he'd see Garp's close up pic on his carpal tunnel. His family baffled him sometimes, "But i do need to leave when they're leaving, so, sorry,"

Marco only hummed in reply. He looked like he still wanted to say something, but instead returned to the television.

"Alright, this is painful," Fossa finally said, grumbling. Blenheim, who was standing by a nearby wall, rumbled his agreement, "You two obviously got something to say to each other, why is no one saying anything? I'm not even surprised at Marco, but Ace, i'm disappointed in you,"

"You know, maybe you should be there instead," Marco spoke, unaware that he's interjecting Fossa, "He'd need the support, don't you think?"

"What Sabo need is to get out of here quicker," and he's not even just saying that. At 5 am this morning, Sabo's first groupchat message of the day was a big, capitalized 'GET ME OUT OF HERE! HURRY!', "I want to be here, anyway,"

"…Why?"

"….Why are you trying to get rid of me?"

The doctor winced, a minuscule twitch that Ace almost missed if he hadn't been watching closely, "Dammit, can't you take a hint? I'm trying to be nice and say i don't mind if you have something else to do today. Can't a man just say thank you?"

"This is you being nice?" Ace couldn't help quip, even when it caused Marco to scowl, "And thank you for what? Trying to get rid of someone is probably the most ass-backward thank you i've ever heard about anyway,"

"For," and at this, Marco's voice actually hitched, as the man turned wide-eyed in embarrassment. He huffed in frustration, before letting out a series of mumbles under his breath that Ace couldn't hear a word of.

And that just won't do, "What?"

With a long suffering sigh, as if Ace is inflicting some physical pain to him - which, rude, but is he surprised anymore? - Marco gritted his teeth, "For… yesterday," he uttered lowly, the hand clutching the thin hospital sheet curling and uncurling repeatedly, "I didn't think i still had it in me to remember moments like that,"

All indignation melted and evaporated out of Ace's body. With a stifled sigh, the raven haired man placed down the last stem of flower and took a seat on the side of the bed, one leg dangling off with the other folded under him. It allowed him to sit close enough to the older man without touching, enough that they're aware of each other's presence, "Of course you still do," Ace told him, lowering his eyes to the hand that's now clenching the bedsheet tight enough to make the knuckles white, "You just haven't let yourself remember the nice things,"

Marco took a deep, shaky breath, and after a while, he nodded. Haruta took seat on the across Ace on the other side, circling his arms loosely around his older brother's arm, "I don't remember the last time i thought of them and felt anything but pain," the blond continues quietly, unaware of the translucent hand running up and down his arm, "But yesterday, there was this," he lifted his hand, and with a balled fist, tapped his chest over where his heart should be, "…relief in me. Like for a second it didn't matter that i left them to die,"

"Please don't say that," Haruta begged meekly, clutching Marco's arm further and placing brunette head on the older's shoulder, "Please stop saying that,"

Carefully, Ace reached out to grab Marco's hand on his chest between both of his own. He squeezed around them first gently, waiting for the blond to meet his eyes with his own misty orbs when he spoke, "Surviving isn't a sin, Marco. Don't punish yourself for living,"

It's a testament, Ace thought later on, to their progress when Marco didn't argue with him. The doctor looked miserable, conflicted as he asked with the earnestness of a desperate man, "Then what should i do?"

Ace squeezed his hands tighter, and smiled, "Tell me more about them," he told him, softly, "The good, the bad, everything you can think of. Let me know them as much as you do, so they'll live on even if it's only through your memories. So maybe someone else will come to care for them as much as you do too,"

Marco didn't answer, but nor did he pull away or immediately shut the idea down. It seemed like a good enough indication that his siblings around the room began to move closer to the bed, some like Namur even climbing over the bed as well to held Haruta's curled body, still latching on to their living, breathing brother.

Seconds passed and silence still persisted, but Ace didn't let it deter him. He wanted Marco to talk, to come to his own in dispelling his own demons, to move past this mourning grief that seems like a never ending dark storm. Because he should realize that it's what his family wanted.

And maybe, along the way, it'll heal him, returning him to the man who earned so much love, even from beyond death.

At long last, there was a shuddering sigh, before Marco began to speak, "Jozu was the second one to be adopted, after me," his voice was trembling, hitching in certain places, and each time it happened, Ace would rub his thumb in a long line across the back of his hand. A silent support, a patient gesture to continue on, "He had this crazy fascination with Wano culture's weapons and armors,"

* * *

It was nearly 2 hours by the time Marco managed to at least mention any small bits of memories about every single one of his siblings, and when if Ace noticed he purposefully avoided Edward's, he let it go. They'd have another day for that.

Ace didn't have the heart to tell Marco that the rest of his family had left the hospital in the middle of telling Ace about his own family. They knew, at least, where he was and he left soon after Marco fell asleep - looking rather tired, and Ace knew the exhaustion didn't come from talking so much and the thought brought a mystifying sensation of both fondness and deep empathy in Ace - promising to come over as usual the next day to the slumbering man, and partially to the rest of the room's visitor. No one there who had their name mentioned in had dry eyes, if not openly crying while hovering over Marco like Namur or Thatch.

He left them, not with tears of grief, but one of relief for the first ray of hope for recovery after so long.

In the middle of the celebratory dinner, Rouge nudged him, smiled, and spoke in a louder voice than necessary, "You know, we should do this again for Marco. I think it'd be good for him, don't you think?"

Roger and Sabo gave a resounding agreement, already high with merriment quickly followed by subsequent scolding when Luffy stole the last piece of food on a plate. Dadan asked who Marco was and Koala explained what transpired between Ace and Marco to her, getting interjected here and there by Sabo when the story dissolved into wonders about the whereabouts of other ghosts in the hospital.

Amongst the ruckus, Ace returned his mother's smile, and gestured to the table as a whole, "Maybe we should break this to him first. Slowly,"

* * *

You smell that?

Smells like a thickening track of land. And by land i meant plot. Cuz they meant the same. That was a joke, i suck at jokes.

I'm so sorry, please still like this fic, i work hard on it.

Anyway, sorry it's shorter than usual, but i hope you still liked it and please tell me what you think! Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

** *Youtuber voice* This story is brought to you by insomnia. It's been very helpful for every chore and work i got, left me drained in the day, but at least my kitchen's spotless and my fics updated. Thank you insomnia, for sponsoring this update.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

* * *

Pulling Kid to the side during break time had been easy enough, especially with the promise of a big box of Rouge's raisin cookies and Ace's prized all-you-can-eat Wano-style buffet voucher for 2. It had been a painful sacrifice to make, but the redhead was singing like a canary and all too pleased in answering his questions.

"I was on the scene that day, yeah," for the first time since being presented the mouth-watering oval treats, Kid's expression turned sombre, lips pursed with a frown that says of unpleasant recollection, "Big-ass house, a massive fire, and an entire family dead. You don't get memories like that out of your head. I was one of the rookies, so i mainly just give support outside,"

"Can you tell me the events from that night, any detail at all," Ace subconsciously leaned forward from his seat, brows furrowed, "Any survivor, witnesses? What about the investigation afterwards?"

Kid reached up to scratch his hair, using the same hand he used to hold the cookie he was greedily gnawed on. Having used to seeing this sort of behaviour from Luffy - not to mention guilty of doing so himself at times - Ace ignored the sheer lack of etiquette, "Oh man, i don't really know, it was all a big giant blur. I was on the second responder team, so when i got there, everything's a chaos, you know? Kaku and Jabra failed to get in when the entrance collapsed and it almost killed Kaku. Fire's too big for anyone to get in, the sneaky ass reporters we gotta hold off.. and that one annoying guy,"

"An.. annoying guy?"

"Yeah," the redhead widened his eyes, perking up at his own memory, "Oh yeah, there was this one asshole's that's just making it hard for everybody. We were trying our best trying to kill off the fire, but he kept screaming at us to work harder and 'do you know whose house this is?! I'm going to sue you for lack of competence' and all that bullshit. With Kaku down, tension's real high between us, i think Lucci was about to punch the living shit out of him and lose him what teeth he got left," he shook his head with a sneer, "You'd think he'd be more concerned about the guy he saved instead of harassing firemen and the police,"

Something perked up in the back of Ace's head at Kid's words, "Wait, go back. He saved a guy from the fire?"

"Yeah, almost bragging about it. Ugh, now i'm remembering everything about that asshole," Kid picked up another cookie, delaying his explanation, and Ace had to hold himself back from throttling his friend to force him to speak faster, "Some chucklefuck got up to Killer's face and said something like 'even i can safe one life, all of you are a waste of taxpayer money', something, something. Kept saying that all the time, oh, good thing he saved someone since we're so useless, oh, the poor man, how will he break the news his family was killed by some incompetent fools, even though we didn't know if there's any survivor yet. I mean, there's none, so he has a point, but—"

"Was that survivor Marco Newgate?" Ace cuts off before Kid could continue with his rant, which seems to be never ending, judging from the sour look on his face.

And even anticipating the answer, something deep sank in the raven haired man's stomach when the larger man across from him nodded, "Yup, the only one who survived. Poor fucker. We got a gag order after that to hide the fact that he was alive during the investigation, and i know from Law that the hospital that treated him got the same orders. I kept up with the news few days after it all went down and his name was never mentioned once. Or the fact that someone got out of that entire mess,"

That.. explains some things, at least. If the media got the same orders as well, Absalom Leo's article must've slipped through the cracks between them.

But if so, why was he killed by Sanjuan Wolf, or whoever the arsonist was?

"Do you know who the asshole was?"

"Not really, no. He ended up just disappearing by the end of it and i was too glad to be rid of the bastard. Probably some slimy family lawyer anyway," Kid paused mid-munch, and squinted his eyes, "Say, didn't you ask me about Marco Newgate a while ago too? Don't tell me you're turning into one of those conspiracy theorist NEETs whose got nothing better to do then read news and make up weird stories,"

Ugh, he knew Kid would ask why he was asking so many questions, but Ace still wasn't sure what to answer him with. It's not like the truth is something he can just say easily, "I uh, i met the guy in the hospital," he settled with in the end, "I mean, he's a doctor in the hospital Sabo was at, right? And now i'm just curious,"

The robust firefighter looked at him weirdly, and it took all of Ace's control not to shrink. But instead of commenting, Kid merely shrugged and picked up another cookie, "Not the worse thing to be curious about, i guess," he muttered around a mouthful of raisin cookie, "Gotta say though, looking into a guy's past isn't the most effective way to get into his pants. I know Law would get mad whenever i bring up his adopted fath—"

"W-what?! Who said anything about getting into anyone's pants— No! I was just genuinely curious about what happened! It's been 5 years and still no one knew about what happened with the Newgate ars—"

Suddenly, Kid snapped one arm up and slapped his hand in front of Ace's mouth, effectively cutting off the man's yelling. He started glancing around, and gave a low shush, "Keep it down. You don't mention _that incident_ around here blatantly like that,"

Behind Kid's - flaky, cookie crumble covered - palms, Ace expressed his muffled confusion.

Slowly, while still keeping his sight inside of the station, Kid lowered his hand, voice kept low as he whispered, "Look, i know i just said all that about conspiracy theory and whatnot, but yeah, even some of us around here think something weird's going on. But we don't talk about it, not openly," he glanced to the other side now, looking properly suspicious of every corner, "Fact is—"

"Hey guys,"

Kid's words immediately stopped at the new voice, and in an instant, his grim look was replaced with an approachable half-grin, "Hey, Burgess, going out for lunch?"

The tall and muscled form of Jesus Burgess passed by them, grinning genially, "Yup. See ya later,"

Ace reflexively waved to return the violet-haired man's gesture, and from his periphery, he could see kid doing the same, "See ya, Burgess," he called out weakly, hand still waving even after the man had turned his back on them again.

The heavy sigh from in front of him finally snapped Ace out of his stupor, "Listen, if you really wanna know what happened that night, you can't ask just about anyone around here. Don't you think it's suspicious that it's been 5 years and no one's been caught yet?" He ground out his last sentence, staring Ace right in the eyes as his tone seems to insinuate something deeper, "This is beyond just some incident, Gol-Portgas. Some deeper, political shit is going on,"

"Didn't you just scold me for going all conspiracy theorist about this?"

"That's before i know you're doing this to woo someone, though i still think it's a bad idea," he kept munching on the cookies, seemingly considering something silently under Ace's immediate and frantic denial, "Tell you what. I've been here longer than you, and more importantly, i know who was there that night and who's trustworthy. I'll ask around, see if anyone's got something new to say to help you with all this detective-ing you're doing,"

At his offer, Ace's protest died down quietly - though not the feel of his burning face, "Really, you'd do that for me?"

"Only if you promise me more of these cookies," to prove his point, Kid stacked three raisin cookies together and open his mouth widely to accomodate their size. Ace is pretty sure he can see the man's tonsil, "I'd gladly die for these things, man,"

* * *

It doesn't even surprise Ace when he arrived in Marco's room that evening, a bouquet of pink zinnias with a few sprigs of anemone in hand, and stopped just before opening the door to hear voices from inside. And it's not the echoing, hollow voice of the departed, he could clearly tell this to be voices of living, breathing humans. Damnit, he knows what he said last time, but he didn't think his mom would've moved this fast.

He entered the room with a deep sigh, already prepared to address his mother when the sight made him stop short.

Rouge was there, as expected, plucking a few bits of flowers from the vases next to Marco's bed to form a more professional looking bouquet in a vase Ace has never seen before. But sitting on the floor by the foot of the bed was Luffy, in full uniform and all, his full attention directed to the louder than usual TV, and expression shared by Roger, who was rooted in Ace's usual chair. The two cheered almost simultaneously when the announcer's voice was raised in celebration, then turning to each other for a high five before Roger turned to a completely bewildered Marco, "And that's how you win the game!"

Marco, eyes wide in alarm, only nodded awkwardly. On both of his sides, Haruta, Namur, Thatch and Jiru occupied the narrow space left, completely entranced by whatever was playing on the TV. Next to Rouge, Izo stood admiringly, if a little bit wistfully at her flower arrangement, while Vista stood a little behind the red haired woman, humming occasionally in full attention at the process. The rest of the Newgate family were chatting between themselves, some obviously pointing at the unexpected intruders.

In the middle of them, Edward was staring at Roger with recognition, and was the first who seems to notice Ace's arrival. He smiled and gestured to Ace's parents and cousin, "You have quite the lovely family, Ace,"

Ace's only acknowledgement was a quick nod, before he quickly sidled up to his mother and purposefully avoiding Marco's panicked glances. He'd deal with that later, "Mom," he hissed, ignoring Izou and Vista's amused looks, "Remember what i said about barging in on Marco? Why is the entire circus in town?"

"Well, that is rude," Rouge immediately replied, never once looking up from the flowers, "I'll have you know we're on our best behaviour. We're just introducing ourselves," she turned, and smiled beatifically at Marco, who was too stunned by Roger's long-winded explanation of whatever they were watching to even notice her, "Besides, this isn't everyone. Sabo couldn't make it, he's still recovering at home and Koala's with him,"

"How unfortunate," Ace snippily remarked.

"True, it's less merry than usual," his mother tossed back, "So i brought someone else,"

Before Ace could even ask, the door to the bathroom slams opened, followed noisily by the sound of the toilet flushing and a dreadfully familiar groan, "Nobody's going inside the toilet for the next 10 minutes. My lunch doesn't agree with me, i knew i shouldn't have Sengoku picking out our food," Garp strode out, waving a hand in front of his face with a huff, "What'd i miss? What's the current score?"

"Red team's beating out Blue team by a mile!" Roger cheerfully informed him, "Today's the day, Garp! My team's going to beat yours!"

"Nonsense! Blue team'll make a comebacks, just you watch,"

"You couldn't bring the entire circus so you decided to bring a wild animal instead?!" Ace hissed in distraught as Garp plopped down on the sofa right next to Edward and a few of his children, still rubbing his stomach and burping obscenely. Next to him, Kingdew, big, manly, muscular Kingdew, actually _giggled _at his grandfather's antics, falling over to Atmos next to him, who was laughing all the same, "And isn't he's supposed to be in the marine base or something?!"

"Uncle Garp said he has the permission to 'do whatever he want'. There's a formal paperwork and everything. Signed by himself," Rouge tittered at Ace's incredulous reaction,"He's tame and housebroken, dear, don't you worry,", she continued, before her attention was finally caught by the flowers in Ace's hand. Then she gave a gasp and whispered as basically snatched the bouquet out of her son's hand, "Oh, Ace! You didn't tell me!"

"What?"

She lifted one of the zinnias from the arrangement, and glanced coyly between Ace and Marco - who looks more and more wary with every passing second, Ace should probably do something about this soon - while twirling the flower between her fingers, "So you do have a crush on him, didn't you? I knew it!" She stage whispered, which thankfully could not be heard by the room at large since Roger, Garp and Luffy took that moment to voice out their celebration/disappointment loudly, but it was definitely caught by Izou who stood next to Rouge. The crossdresser's eyes were as bright and wide as hers.

"The fu- hell are you talking about?!" Ace's face began to heat up as he stammered, only belatedly remembering not to swear in front of his mother, "No i don't!"

Yet, Rouge simply raised the flower between them, as if it was supposed to prove her point, "So why the zinnia, hmm? You don't even know we were going to be here, did we spoil your secret love letter, honey?"

Ace's voice came out far louder than he wanted it to, but then, really no one else, save for his mother, Izou and Vista - seems to be paying attention to anything but the loud TV, "Because it means goodness?! I've been giving him flowers with good meaning for recovery and health!"

It was eerie to see Rouge and Izou laughing at the same time, "_White _zinnia means goodness, Ace," Izou explained in between cackles, "_Pink_ zinnia means lasting affection! Oh, and here i was hoping too,"

If possible, Ace got even redder, and briefly forgetting himself by replying and turning to Izou, "How am i supposed to remember that?!"

Rouge suddenly turned to her side, smile brightening even more, "One of Marco's family's near me? Oh, hello! I'm sorry, i didn't realize you are—" With a half-bitten yelp, Ace grabbed his mother by the shoulders and pulled her away to the corner of the room, ignoring her exclamation to peek at the bed. Marco was now watching the TV as well, brows furrowed with confused concentration and seems distracted enough, good, "Hey! What's the big idea manhandling your own mother like that, mister?"

"Don't even mention about… _that _or_ them, _Mom," he hissed, emphasising his every word to show how serious he was, "He.. he doesn't know. He_ can't_ know,"

In that moment, when realization dawned on Rouge's feature, suddenly the noises on the other side of the room seems far enough, "I understand, Ace," she told him gently, patting the hand on her shoulder, "You're not ready to tell,"

"It's not about me, mom, it's that he doesn't—"

"And knowing his family is always nearby might not help his recovery either,"

Ace fell silent, and quietly nodded, "I've been reading up a bit lately," he admitted, "Survivor's guilt, i think it's called. Marco, he," Ace took a deep breath, glancing to the bed, seeing Marco surrounded by his brothers, his family littered around the room unknown to him, "talking about his family is still difficult to him. He blamed himself for being alive, for their deaths,"

A hand reached up and patted Ace's cheek. He turned and found his mother's gentle gaze on him, "Recovery is always the hard part, Ace. No one can, or should do it alone," The hand pinches his cheeks playfully, "And he doesn't have to be anymore. The dead may linger, but the living needs to live on. You, no,_ we _can show that to him,"

"Red team! Red team!" The eruption of joyful celebration from Roger and Luffy drowned out Garp's booming disbelief at the show's conclusion, accompanied by amused laughters from the Newgate family, infected by the duo's excitement. Roger leaned back on his seat to clasp one hand on Marco's shoulder with a resounding slap, "Now! Time to make your decision, boy. Are you with the brave and courageous Red team, or follow that geezer's loser Blue team?"

"I, uh," Marco blinked, perplexed, eyes darting from the three men uncertainly, "I don't… really follow these sort of TV shows—"

"X-treme Davy Back isn't just some TV show, Marco! It's a challenge of fortitude and perseverance, where only the strongest can gain victory!" the dark haired man boomed grandly, "Well, for the contestants anyway. For us, watchers at home, we support them with our spirits! With overwhelming energy! And every two weeks, with online voting to eliminate the weak link," he slapped Marco's back again, not noticing that the force even made the IV stand behind him wobble dangerously, "So, i ask again, who will you support?!"

By the foot of the bed, Luffy was still valiantly chanting 'Red team! Red team!" and occasionally blowing raspberry at a despairing Garp. Under Roger's hopeful watch, Marco finally said, all too meekly, "Uh, R-red team?"

Roger and Luffy's ensuing cheer, as well as Garp's even louder protest was enough to invite 2 sullen nurses who practically barged into the room to report several noise complaints from other people in the room while sternly warning them to keep their voice down.

While everyone's attention was on the bickering trio and irate nurses, Ace was sure he was the only one who saw a fond and wistful smile bloomed on Marco's lips.

* * *

It was a sudden change that came to stay. At least, until a few days later, when Kureha came over - briefly startled by the amount of people inside of Marco's room - and announced that with all test returning satisfactorily, Marco is allowed to be discharged from the hospital's care. The agreement that Ace will be his at home caretaker was brought up as well, and was immediately followed by Ace's parents' offer for him to stay with them for better care.

Which was promptly yet politely declined, despite how much Rouge and Roger insisted. Marco didn't feel comfortable recovering in someone else's place, preferring his own, but after much pestering, agreed to contact them directly for daily check up. The family group chat gained one more reluctant member, which, in Ace's personal opinion, was obviously a better trade off than giving Rouge a spare key to his apartment. Ace was enough, Marco had insisted, and Ace would deny how happy those words made him feel inside.

The night before Marco's scheduled discharge, Ace found himself alone with Marco, fully and completely in both physical and spiritual sense. He agreed to trade off his schedule tomorrow with someone else in the station and have tomorrow off, and the hospital's staff had allowed him to stay overnight due to taking a crash course on what to do to take care of Marco during his recovery. His family bid an early farewell so they could come over early in the morning, while Marco's own decided to spend their last consecutive night in the hospital visiting what ghost friends they made around the place.

Ace suspected that wasn't the only reason, but it's not like he could ask with Marco in the room.

"So, last day in this hospital," he voiced out from the hospital provided second bed, after a long stretch of silence. Where such was awkward in the first few days he was here, something had somehow shifted. There was no tenseness between them, and the silence only felt companionable than anything else, even without the buffer of anyone else in the room, corporeal or not, "Judging from Sabo's reaction on his last day here, i'm gonna guess you're happy about it?"

Marco only snorted, but there was a twitch on the corner of his lips, "As long as this isn't really my last day in _a _hospital," he replied, "But yes, it's relieving to be able to leave soon," just as the last word left him, there was a notification beep from the table between them, and immediately Ace rolled his eyes, catching the equally wary look on Marco's face. After a few second of silent consideration, the blond reached over and picked up his phone from under the vase that held a single, massive protea flower.

Marco had quirked a brow on the what would be the last flower he received from Ace, not only because Ace was back with bringing only a single flower - nevermind that the flower was as big of a single balled fist - but also because he admitted he had never seen this flower before. The raven haired man told him that the flower, unlike the ones before, had been a gift from Rouge, and after a quick search on the internet, told him held the meaning of 'change, transformation, diversity and courage'.

Privately, Ace was touched by his mother's gesture.

"You know you don't need to check that up ever time it rang, right?" the younger sighed from his bed, folding both hands as a buffer between his head and the pillow to look at the TV. Until 10 minutes ago, they had been watching another one of those documentary shows Marco seems to like so much, but after it was done, in the middle of browsing channel, X-Treme Davy Back's rerun showed up and somehow, Marco kept the channel on the boisterous sports program. Ace kept this observation to himself, "That is probably the most annoying family group chat to ever exist. 70% of the time it's just my dad and Grandpa Garp sending stupid videos and the rest of it is someone picking a fight over something dumb with someone else, and someone adding fuel to that fight," it's usually him, but he guess he better behave from now on, "The moment you see Garp and Dragon argue about politics, exit the group. Or mute the notification, that's what i did,"

"It's fine," Marco said quietly, seemingly engrossed by whatever it is he was reading. Ace was tempted to look into his own phone to see what he's reading, when the blond continued, "It's probably the most active my phone got lately,"

And there is no right reply to that that won't sound stupid, so Ace wisely kept his mouth shut.

The next round of Davy Back fight was commencing, the fox-faced announcer proclaimed loudly on screen, when Marco spoke again, "I still don't understand why you're here," his voice was quiet against the static murmurs from the TV, "Or why anyone bothers at all," the doctor was still staring at his phone screen, but it was clear he was no longer reading what's on it. Ace could see his hold on the device tightening.

Ace sat up slightly, suddenly glad that the room was clear save for just the two of them. "Marco," he called out, and faltered. Had he not erased any sort of doubts? Hasn't his constant visit prove that he cared, at least?

When the man's grip on his phone slackened, it fell on the bed beneath. Marco's eyes followed it, downcast and hooded, making it hard to even guess what he might be thinking about.

"All i know," he whispered, turning to Ace, and there was now a small smile on his lips, private and genuine, "Is that it's been so long, since tomorrow doesn't look so bleak,"

Something inside of Ace seems to leap from its place, bouncing inside of him, hitting his chest, stomach, the entire length of his throat and maybe even his tear ducts too, because there is no reason why his eyes felt heavy for no reason. He was left speechless, at that unprompted little smiles that seems to appear every now and then, never when anybody was watching closely, but not is aimed at Ace. At the words itself, and the sincereness in Marco's voice.

The living needs to live on, he remembered Rouge say days ago, and that it's their duty, as those still living, who cares enough to pick up the pieces.

It was as if his legs gained a mind of their own, when Ace slipped out of his bed and moved over to Marco's, leading him to sit by the edge of the bed. The older man was watching him questioningly, and if he noticed Ace's slightly wet eyes - damnit, since when did he became such a crybaby? It's like everything, especially around this man seems to trigger all sort of feelings in him lately - he hardly commented, "If that's what you feel," Ace began, staring him right in the eyes, "Then i need to tell you something,"

Marco's brows furrowed, smile slipping. He even leaned forward a little in anticipation and curiousity, "What is it?" he asked quietly.

Ace took a deep breath, bracing himself, "My family's going to take you out for dinner tomorrow," he said with the most serious tone he could muster, "and now's the chance to tell us the kind of food you liked, because honestly, i love them but they had the worst track record of getting kicked out for eating too much so we need to make the best out of it before we inevitably ruin your day,"

The tense atmosphere lingered for a few seconds as Marco seems to digest his words, and was broken the moment a small, smothered laughter slipped by the blond's lips. It gave way to an ugly snort that was followed closely by little giggles that made this shoulders shake. It was this reaction that made Ace gave his own snorting and crisp laugh, "I'm serious!" he insisted, "We're blacklisted from 20 all you can eat restaurants around town and at least 30 places required us to make a reservation 3 days in advance so they could stock up before our arrival,"

"Why can i completely believe that?" Marco said in between gasps of laughter, "What is your entire family?"

"You've seen them, they're nutcases," Ace shrugged, mouth grinning so wide his cheeks hurts, "And since you're in the family group chat now, congratulations, you're one of them, so watch what you say next,"

Instantly, regret piled up inside of Ace when Marco's laughter abruptly stopped. He looked like he was in a daze as he watched Ace, lips still parted and grin slowly fading away.

But then he smiled again, small and faint, but it's still _there. _He gave a quiet little hum and didn't say anything else, but it felt like a slowly forming realization.

"Nothing spicy or oily," he mumbled a while later, catching Ace off guard, "Not because i don't like them, but there is a strict health regulation i need to follow in my recovery. I don't have any specific food that i like, but on top of my head now, i'm thinking fish,"

"Fish," Ace repeated dumbly, still distracted by the sight of that _smile_, "Fish. Oh, yeah, fish, seafood, got it. Uh, there's one by the shoreline we haven't been banned from, though since we never even been there, there is a possibility that we may be tomorrow, so two birds with one stone," he laugh awkwardly, word blurting out unthinkingly, "No oily, so fried food is out of the question, what about grilled? There is this insanely good hibachi place i just know Sabo's gonna suggest, we were going to go there for his release but they were closed that day—"

"Ace," Marco called out gently, a smile back on his lips, "I'm fine with whatever it is,"

He remembered the first day he met Marco in this room, the wrong step they took, and the sight of a man clouded with so much pain in his eyes in what felt like a whole lifetime ago. Seeing this man right now, smiling at him, laughing with him, animated instead of a living corpse, it astound Ace to silence. He took in the sight of still pale yet no longer gaunt face, the sound of phone still vibrating occasionally on the bed and the loud orchestral sport music from the TV.

He found himself staring into Marco's eyes, twinkling with life where it had been hollow and soulless before, and found himself sucked into that sea of blue.

* * *

It must be such an odd sight for the hospital resident to witness in the first place, a repeat from just nearly 2 weeks before when an entire family marched into their sanctuary of the sick and suffering all bright and bubbly, ready to pick up one of their own.

For those who knows Dr. Marco Newgate, recluse, hermit and _all alone_, it must be even more confusing to know these people were coming for _him_.

On their way to the hospital entrance, Ace suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, gazing at the sight before him: A very crowded hall, both the dead and the living mingling together. Marco's disfigure sibling walked alongside of Sabo and Luffy who were at the head of the group, enthusiastically explaining and expressing their disbelief of 'You never been to a hibachi before?!', while Edward Newgate followed Roger and Rouge's more subdued pace, fondly watching the younger people in front of them.

Not a single sad face in sight, as they all gathered around one man in between them all.

"Mister?" a chirpy little voice called out, and Ace turned to find the little girl by the entrance watching him, a curious smile on her lips, "Is that man the one that big family has been looking after?"

"He is," Ace told her, "He's getting better now,"

The girl nodded, "That whole family always looked so sad. I'm glad they're happier now," then, her smile fell, as she glanced at Ace shyly behind her bangs, "Are you leaving too, Mister? He's the one you've been visiting, right?"

Ace gave her a pinched smile, realizing the reason behind her question instantly, "I am. So this is a goodbye for us too, i'm so sorry," As expected, the girl turned downcast, and once he made sure the group was has made their way outside of the door, he raced over to her side, carefully keeping his hand out of sight, "But guess what, i have one last surprise for you,"

This made her perk up, and her entire translucent face seems to lit up when he revealed the single stem of peony he had been holding on to, "Flowers has meaning, and when you give it to someone, you're giving them that message. I've been using it to cheer up my friend there," he gestured to the slowly distancing group, eyes instantly finding Marco's back, "This flower here means 'a happy life',"

"It's so pretty! Thank you, mister," the girl giggled, hand cupping the blooming petals, "You know, i am so glad i get to meet you and see all these pretty flowers. Thank you mister, for making me happy,"

Ace smiled, wider and with a touch of melancholy. Ah, he hadn't seen this one in a while, he thought, when the hand around the flower began to fade slowly, "I hope wherever you're going, there will be an entire flower field just for you,"

It was how Koala found him not long after, probably volunteering to go back when they notice he'd not with them, "Ace? What are you doing? Everyone's waiting," she asked, but stopped the moment she saw the place he was looking at, a single peony laying on the floor in front of him "Hey, isn't that where… uhh, there's one there, isn't it?"

With an almost lethargic movement, Ace shook his head, "Not anymore," he quietly told her, "She's moved on,"

Behind him, Koala was silent. He took a deep breath, before continuing, "Ghosts lingers because there's still something holding them back, or because they're still too attached to their life. But it doesn't matter how long it took, be it days, years, even decades, everyone needs to move on,"

With one last look at the peony, he turned around and gave the blonde a heavy smile that doesn't hide his true emotion, "She's in a better place now, that's good enough for me. Come on, let's not keep everyone waiting, shall we?"

* * *

**Alternative title for this fic: There are at least 6 different foreshadowing and one of them is a red herring. Or not, because saying 'foreshadowing' defeats the purpose to shadow the fore.**

**Well, please tell me what you think so far (or any theories, i welcome them! To see how i can make it more complicated, but i welcome them!), and i hope you liked it!**


End file.
